"A" is for Ants - Teeny Tiny Ants !
by bobk

Comment:
Great shot, and while the penny does give scale, I think it detracts more than it adds. Even if the ants were harder to guage the size of, it doesn't detract from the image as much as the penny does.

That said, clever idea, well executed, should do well

Alone
by Rino63

Comment:
Couldn't you have cut down that bush on the left? If only the tree were a bit more alone...nice tones and good colors on a tough shot.

A is for Alps
by syker

Comment:
Nice framing, but I'm puzzled by the focal point. F is for fence and that is where you put the focus both in sharpness and tonal balance. A deeper DOF and darker image would have shown off those lovely, but blurry and blown out Alps.

A is for Alone, solo, solitary, singular
by MeMex2

Comment:
A bit more contrast would have helped to show off those lovely sun rays. And while it doesn't really bother me, I have been hit often enough with the " I hate you image because the horizon is not level" comment to know that rotating the horizon to 90 degrees , even if it means the tree will not be at 90, will help your score.

The Picnic
by sfalice

Comment:
Lovely composition and great tones, love it.

Into the Great Wide Open
by EstimatedEyes

Comment:
the blacks seem a bit flat, and the white bands top and bottom detract from a pretty nice image.

Evil Eye Begone
by Timosaby

Comment:
Blue hand grips blue ribbon. Beautiful lighting, and a pair of images that support each other cleanly both graphically and conceptually. The clear favorite,

Zen Candle
by KevinSLR

Comment:
In response to a few more stray comments; The leaf leading the eye off the page creates a lot of eye movement is a challenge that was all about stillness. I'm not sure if the DOF is intentionally narrow, but a fair amount of the frame is just out of focus, which tends to kill the scoring here, especially on still life subjects. A lower angle would have given the flame more life, and a chance to see the shift in colors of the flame, and perhaps a trail of smoke, here it reads as a little mote of white. Granted you would lose the rather nice reflection in the wax, but I think it would be a good trade off.

Lightheaded
by BrennanOB

Comment:
minimally edited version
I cloned out the hot spots on the balloons, and the shadow on the nose where it was obvious the head was behind the clear balloon. I wonder if i had left those shadows in if I would have picked up the six votes below 4.

Meditation
by vlado

Comment:
The processing in this image is heavy enough that it makes the eye dart about the page looking at cloud details and cranes on the horizon. it seems to cut against the peacefull pose of the figure and the calm framing.