Hope for a Responding Hand
by Jade

Comment:
Very unusual photo. So unusual I don't quite know what to make of it. The DOF has the hand nicely, but not quite perfectly focused. But the background is a bit fuzzy. So okay, that could be intentional but in this case it gives the photo a "faked" look. Almost like you saying, "See this a photo I took of sunset at the shore." Tie in to theme seems weak to me to.

Steven's Hope
by LisaCan

Comment:
Maybe it's just my monitor but the background is almost perfectly black. It looks like there may be some fabric to the left but I can't really tell. Clearly the label is well exposed and the DOF id good. If the background was exposed differently, or lighted differently, I would have scored it higher.

and.... where is my house????
by kaske666

Comment:
The silhouette seems to be nice and sharp, but all the rest, most of the pixels in fact, are not. I find this distracting. I'm not sure I find "hope" in this so the tie in to the challenge seems weak to me.

Oh no!!!
by sidpixel

Comment:
Nicely focused with good DOF. Somehow, I don't get "hope" out of it.

Never Give Up
by FranziskaLang

Comment:
Nice concept and except for focus, nicely executed. Focus is going to be pretty hard through the glass do degree of difficulty is pretty high.

TRUCE
by s4nd3r99

Comment:
I like that everything is sharply focused. Good reflections. Dificult composition to get just right.

Scarred
by wingy

Comment:
This is a great photo because of its emotional impact. It's disurbing, I am sure, because it was designed and executed virtually perfectly to be disturbing. I love the negative space. The composition is powerful. Among my top picks.

Defeat
by movieman

Comment:
This is a deeply disturbing photo. The emotional content tops the chart in this challenge. Obviously subject matter and composition are its strongest features. (10)

Can hope fix everything?
by Amason

Comment:
This is very good in spite of the title. It is among my top 10 mostly because of the strong composition and outstanding levels. Color, focus, DOF and so on are each good enough, but when combined, strengthen the picture. IMO it would be better w/o the border, but that's a matter of personal preference I think.

Soliloquy
by Zoomdak

Comment:
Nice shot. I like the dark moody sky and sea. The reflection of the rock is fantastic. The hand-scralled "hope" in the fore ground could have been cheesy, but in this case it works very well. I suspect the water will obliterate it soon, but in fact, that's is one of the emotional strengths of the photo. Hope is a transient for most people. Maybe my monitor is too dark, but if I were editing this, I might have brightened it just a bit. Still among my top 10 picks this time.