Yellow Jacket
by Rebecca

Comment:
this is immensly likeable in most respects, but does suffer a wee bit due to a bit of over processing (either too much noise reduction, or too much over sharpehing, or probably both). it has the unfortunate effect that the girl looks like a very flat cardboard cut out stuck in front of whatever the background is. compositionwise it's great; the negative space is really effective and visually pleasing and intriguing. the posture, expression and character of the girl is really cool and has a sense of candid realness which feels natural. the background is really funky and fun, complements the girls jacket and hair really well. as a whole, this image works asthetically well, and has a great sense of scale. i'd say it half meets the challenge; the jacket seems merely incidentally pastel, and the background is too mustard to really count. overall, i give it 7.

Curious...
by taterbug

Comment:
i completely got this! and it's much better a submission than a ten a penny sunset. free study entries shouldn't be conventional, shouldn't be something done countless times before, and this was as far as i saw completely unique. so kudos for knowingly not chasing votes!

Autumn Breeze
by steinar

Comment:
this is really nice. i love the point of view, the lowness of the camera. the angle works terrifically. it has such an intimate, peaceful and gentle feeling. the lighting (all natural?) is fantastic. the landscape looks rugged but inviting... the only pastels i really see is the cardigan, and i'm not sure that it actually qualifies as meeting the challenge in the fullest sense. But it is there so i'll let it pass. a really lovely dynamic shot. 9.

Pastel Pinks and Blues of Spring
by Shy Clicker

Comment:
already voted on this - gave it 9. this is so pretty, and by far the best flower picture in terms of colour, composition and style. only slight criticism is that i would have liked to have the flowers in the middle of the left half to be less blurry (they in some no mans land between sharp and soft), but that aside, it's really great. this is the sort of thing you could sell to Ikea. the blue is so bright and strong, and really complements the pinks and greenybrowns. very lovely.

Three
by hjalti

Comment:
okay, as much as i truly love this image, i really don't get a sense of pastelness in this at all. okay, the girls skin tone is a bit pale, but really, that's incidental. so it doesn't fit the challenge.

i wish it did though, 'coz i'd have tenned this no question. i love the david lynch weirdness about this (though it needs a dwarf!); trying to figure out the narrative here is an intriguing bitch! there's a lot to take in here, but it is so rewarding. i love the building. the cat looking at the bird and the girl looking at the cat is fantastically entertaining, so heirarchical... and can i say: strapless dress and top hat? GENIUS! technically it's great; the composition is certainly unconventional but it is successful, the colours are rich (too rich - should be pastelly), the building has a texture you can see... probably my favourite picture of the year. it'll be unfair to give a 10, so 8. okay, 9.

Sensory Pinks
by joycobb

Comment:
my goodness, SO cutely adorable! bunny! this is a really cute photograph, and it certainly fits the challenge. there are a few composition issues i have, particularly with the cropping off of the bunny bottom. it also feels too close, and you've seemed to have lost the opportunity of really conveying his tiny size - being in a human hand, or something similar (tea pots are always good) might have been more effective than a similar sized fruit. his ears and back could also do with being a tad sharper, and i can see you in his eye which is a minor distraction. still adorably cute though, and because of the cuteness (and great choice of subject) it bashes my criticism and gropes my heart. 7. aww! bunny!

Beach Hut 79
by KHolt

Comment:
it's funny, but the title very much invokes such a hippie, time specific feeling. i know it was the year of punk, but still... i did think of beach huts as a possible subject, but couldn't really find any that would fit in sense of colour or be photognic enough. this does the first and is the second. i like the contrast between the blue and yellow and yellow and blue groups of huts a lot, though it does have the affect of unbalancing the composition a bit (to me it feels more natural cropping everything left of the space just left of centre). the skies are effective, as is the lack of people. really like this image very much. 8.

Vestre Strandallé 100
by visaksen

Comment:
i gave this a 6. as a choice of subject, i like it; it's obviously structurally knackered, and the amount of delapidation gives the house both a sense of age, and a sense of a sad, unloved history. i also like the pleasing use of symmetry, and how it is bordered by the drain pipes on either side. what tones down it's WOW! is the bland colour of the brickwork that seems to infiltrate everything, including the windows and window frames. changing to b&w and really maxing the contrast might have enhanced the grunginess appeal somewhat. i'd also like to see how a close-up photograph of the number 100 with the house as a softer background might look...

quiet growl
by IndigoButterfly

Comment:
i scored this a 6. there are elements of this that are truly visually striking; the elements of chrome, the headlight, the flash of white in the front wing and the body work along the side all work exceptionally well to the negative treatment. what doesn't work quite as well is are the tyres and inside face of the wheel arch. other things that let you down a bit can only be described as clumsy composition flaws; the bonnet being lifted, the dark triangle in the bottom left corner and the line of grey along the right side all look rather regretable and is likely to hurt your final score.

Sunday Morning
by aznym

Comment:
i love the composition of this, and the style (specifically the specs themselves, the b&w tones, and the clearly defined shade and light) is really visually striking. i just wish the whole image was smoooother. grain i like, but here there seems to be a high level of left over artefacts from possibly too much sharpening. just left wanting for more, really - so it's really good, but not great. 6.