Anasazi Kiva and remnant of snow
by kposey

Comment:
Problem here is that as soon as one sees the background the actual subject in the foreground pales beside the nice landscape ;-) -stephan

Remembrance
by stephan

Comment:
The scene was taking place in a subway tunnel and the lighting conditions were dim, so I had to use a slow shutter. I didn't have my tripod with me (and wouldn't have used it under these circumstances anyway) so the camera was handheld. That's why the photo is a bit unsharp and lacks focus.

I think a photo can not tell the whole story. It can just make you start thinking about the story behind it and show a small part of the whole thing. That's the difference to a film ;-). I thought of using a more explaining title but then I didn't like that.

I also converted the photo to black&white and it doesn't look bad but I like the original better. The red of the candles and the flames come out better.

I wanted to crop a bit more from the right side of the photo. But then I also would have had to crop something from top top or bottom which I didn't want. So I left it as it was. Now thinking about it I wonder how a portrait format would look like. But I'm really looking forward to the new site rules allowing more flexible sizes :-)

Btw.: while the girl on the left is important because she gives the photo the emotional "touch" to make it work, she was not the "subject" of the photo. The actual subject were the candles and flowers.

Thanks again for your comments and helpful suggestions.
Stephan

Christmas Time - Town Square Gets Festive
by crabappl3

Comment:
You must live in the southern hemisphere. I envy you for that blue sky and the sun *sniff* ;-) A well done photo. I like the angle and the placement of the objects. -stephan

Little Boys & Big Dreams
by Rackat

Comment:
This is a wonderful photo. It's one of my favourites this week. I love the backlighting and the compositon is awesome. The boy is positioned excatly with the white spot of the sun/clouds in the background which immediatly leads your eyes to the head and from there via the arm to the thing he holds (a piece of wood?). I just didn't get what his dream could be, but that doesn't matter so much because the photo in itself is so good ;-) Great job! -stephan

Santa & the sun spotted in Manchester
by Paulk

Comment:
Nice photo! Looks a bit surreal the old church (?) with the funny santa claus on the roof :-) You had good lighting conditions and the clear blue sky looks nice as the contrast to the red santa. I think the composition could be better. The spire cuts the photo into two halves. The right half contains the actual subject and is interesting. But the left half is a bit wasted because it adds nothing to the photo. I would have tried to move some steps to the right and also a bit nearer. -stephan

Crossing Guard Caught Sleeping! Are Your Children Safe?
by Anachronite

Comment:
Very candid! I like it a lot. But somehow it looks unbalanced and as if the guard falls out of the frame in the next second. I know it may sound silly, but that's my impression when I look at it. It's probably because of the angle. -stephan

Mayan Mysteries
by lykofos

Comment:
I like the effect that the water looks so soft because of the motion blur. But the lighting looks bad. I guess you used a flash. This makes the photo look very unnatural and this does not fit to your subject. Now it looks like a photo made of a setup in a photo studio. -stephan

Voters Fund Nature Preserve, Reject Development
by jimmsp

Comment:
NIce scenery but I don't like that it is so tilted. -stephan

phew.. thank God they invented this machine...
by bayu

Comment:
Well captured, very candid. The composition is great and you also had good lighting. -stephan

Bound
by muckpond

Comment:
This photo is great! The lighting is awesome and the photo clearly conveys a message. -stephan