Tree With a View
by Delta_6

Comment:
Congrats on the Personal Best! Your entry beat mine for this challenge :o)

Shooting the rapids
by Delta_6

Comment:
Great action shot!

fruit.jpg
by jfriesen

Comment:
I'm inclined to say that your over-the-top color saturation works for me in this image... almost seems to help deemphasize the background fruit without obscuring them altogether. I even like the centered composition, except for the presence of the hand. Your little finger sticks out like a sore thumb :o) (ah just joking) Eye-catching image.

A Look into Perfection
by fotomann_forever

Comment:
Very underappreciated IMO. Great exposure; pushes the highlight limits on her forehead yet the skintones are lovely. I LOVE the fact that she has such soft curves (yes even on her face) and yet the diagonals are there: the alignment of her nose with her cleavage; the shadows under those high cheekbones; the tilt of her head even gives her upper lip a bit of an incline :)

My biggest gripe with the image is the lower left portion of the photo... is that her arm? No suggestion for improvement as shot however, I just think it's distracting.

Great shot Leroy, and yes I agree with you, she's lovely.

20060619.16.53.46.3622.jpg
by gloda

Comment:
Yep the paper is convincing as a roadway; good job! I see cpanaioti's point about the image being more dynamic by adjusting the angle of tilt, but I don't think it needs to be a greater bank left, but rather maybe more of a left and DOWNward tilt... maybe? As for the carpet look, I think a closer crop and then maybe some dodge/burn/blur could be helpful. Good luck with your work!

20060619.16.53.46.3622.jpg
by gloda

Comment:
Well, nit picks they are:

the area that is off the roadway almost looks like... carpet, I guess. It gives me the impression that this is a photo of a model.

The angle of the car looks a little extreme to me, too much bank.

I think I would like it a bit better cropped closer to the top of the car.

Hope this is of some help, Ray

Waiting for Mr. Right
by love

Comment:
You were not kidding when you said you like high contrast, were you? It works great here, love this shot, especially the >>LIPS<

Northern Goshawk - cropped
by cpanaioti

Comment:
Man oh man what a bird :) We've beat this to death, but I do recall one more key feature from an old bird book years ago. A Cooper's will have a rounded tail, not the notch seen here. Problem is, I don't really remember if that little tidbid was to help in distinguising a Cooper's from a gos or from a sharpie... BTW, those 3 birds (goshawk, Cooper's, and sharp-shinned) all accipiters, look VERY similar, except for size and range. Accipiters used to be described as "true hawks" in some of the books, that is, what in the Old World were known as hawks. When the first settlers came to the New World, they incorrectly called birds such as Red-tails, Swainson's etc. "hawks"... and the name stuck. Such birds were known in Europe during that time as "buzzards"... now what we call "buzzards" (such as the Turkey vulture and Black vulture) were originally called Vultures over there! Probably more than you ever cared to hear, huh? :o) -Ray

Scrub Pines by the Winter marsh
by Bear_Music

Comment:
Robert, This I like. It reminds me of the looks that I used to see in illustrations within old (1960's and early '70s) outdoor magazines... Field & Stream etc. Do you know what I'm referring to? Best to you, Ray

Northern Goshawk
by cpanaioti

Comment:
By the way, that's one brave bluejay at lower left, since accipiters (especially the smaller Cooper's and Sharp-shinned hawks, I believe) are primarily hunters of songbirds!