Well Hello, My Little Chickadee
by JakeKurdsjuk

Comment:
Strong image, striking composition. Unfortunately you have some very noticeable halos around the entire bird, especially some dark halos around the lower bright feathers on the nearer wing against the background, and a dark brown halo around its head - perhaps from manual burning of shadows taking too much of the midtones with it? There are also some severe artefacts and grain around the short feathers of its flanks, again perhaps from excessive dodging and burning followed by aggressive sharpening. On close inspection the boekh of the background is also full of stepped artefacts in places, especially near the middle of the frame. Sharpening different parts of the image selectively to different extents might have helped to reduce that.

inferred hope
by tate

Comment:
Good colours and composition, I like this one.

still
by UrfaK

Comment:
You have what seems like a little bit of camera shake (or perhaps subject motion) in the entire image which loses you a bit of definition; there's also some noticeable grain, but kudos for not trying to overcompensate with excessive sharpening. I would perhaps have used a tighter crop to put the subject nearer one of the thirds.

Waves
by posthumous

Comment:
Very strong composition and good balance of tones, one of my favourites in this contest.

Nightfall at the Lake House
by NikonJeb

Comment:
I would have rotated this so the horizon is a little closer to level.

Afterglow
by Neil

Comment:
There's a bit of a dark halo around the moon which detracts from an otherwise strong image.

Sea and Sky
by KarenNfld

Comment:
You have some sharpening halos on your light house railings.

Illuminated
by glad2badad

Comment:
Interesting bokeh, and a vintage feel overall - I'll be interested to see what lens this is shot with.

Barrancas
by Yo_Spiff

Comment:
Great tones; the vignette at top and bottom is perhaps just a little overdone, and the highlights at the far end of the tunnel blown out, but aside from that a very strong and well balanced image. One of my favourites in this contest.

Horn of the Phalanx
by Les_Feck

Comment:
Sophisticated composition and good detail, I just find myself wishing key parts (such as the air horn in the middle) were a little sharper.