Self Portrait
by Keith Maniac

Comment:
Well, yes, it was an April 1st photograph. You are in a subway train, holding your 350D XT. This must be a reflection. But it appears to be taken from outside the train (is that not the external surface of the car providing the left and lower foreground framing of your gleaming melon?) Oh, no! You're right .. it's the inside surface! So it is really just a clever illusion and not a diabolical April Fool's joke after all. Well, you fooled me!

Bored on a Rainy Day
by ragamuffingirl

Comment:
This is a classically good photograph, filled with both charm and challenge for the viewer. Just asymmetrical enough to retain some tension, just enough detail to suggest some emotion, but still contains sufficient figurative blank spaces to demand some effort and imagination of the viewer. Anyone who can look at this and simply bang the "5" button and pass on is brain dead. Great lighting, brilliant conception, admirable restraint, wonderful execution. 10.

On the Deck
by Cutter

Comment:
This is interesting. There's the obvious interest of the picture-within-a-picture. And it's especially appealing because of the juxtaposition; beautiful ocean view/elegant bridge versus a dark and apparently prosaic interior. With a couple of ordinary-looking guys stuck in between, enjoying the million dollar view but still somehow seeming more connected with the unassuming interior. And within that interior is yet another level of interest; a miniature art gallery! It's hard to make the images out, but they look like some memories of good times past, which suggests that this is a location with a happy history.
Not a beautiful photograph, but a thoughtful and entertaining one, and I'll prefer that anytime! 8.

Tango
by LevT

Comment:
Howdy Lev. Long time no see.
This is the most incisive and enduring of the Tango series for me. I like it first because of the subordinate role of the man ... I think the tango is really all about the woman, and the woman dominates this image both compositionally and tonally.
I also like the powerful, passionate personality she projects; the sensual facial features, the slightly disordered hairstyle and even the earthy flash of underarm ... they all speak of the barely contained abandonment that characterises the tango.
And finally I prefer this black and white version of Tango-3 because the best tango dancers are skinny and hard-edged, so the best tango photographs should probably be the same.

Rear Window
by bucket

Comment:
This is a whole lot more interesting than it first appears to be. I'll bet I could list 10 things that I like about it:
1. The dark "bands" formed top and bottom by the car structure recall a wide-screen movie format; it looks like something we recognise, but it's really something else. 2. Rearward-looking viewpoint is slightly disorienting; the more comfortable, conventional tendency is of course to look ahead. 3. The horizontal demister lines suggest a video broadcast affected by interference; another sly reference to imperfect communication. 4. The area swept by the wiper perfectly frames the scene outside; just clipping the vegetation at the bottom, just clearing the treeline at the top, and neatly enclosing the essentials (the stuff "cropped out" by the wiper is irrelevant anyway). 5. The degree of blur applied by the rain is just enough to ask the viewer some questions, but not enough to provide all the answers. 6. The composition, for all its apparent extemporisation, is actually very finely judged; thirds, lines, tones, all that stuff. 7. It does not use Neat Image. 8. It rewards a second look. 9. And even a third. 10. Damn ... oh well, nearly made it.
See? And you thought all you did was to lean around and snap a quick shot! I'll score it 8.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow
by Keith Maniac

Comment:
I can never resist taking these in-flight shots, but mine seldom look any good. Yours does. Approaching home, or perhaps arriving at a new place; either way it's an exciting experience and your photograph captures that feeling well. Of course, the rainbow makes it even more interesting. 7.

Rained Out
by DrAchoo

Comment:
Maybe a little bit sentimental for my taste (I wouldn't put Norman Rockwell on a biscuit tin), but it is beautifully executed and I especially like the creative use of the window frame to enhance and amplify the image rather than merely to crudely enclose it. 7.

Silencio
by kiwiness

Comment:
One of very few literally framed images to have any real point to it. The window serves a worthy purpose here, by creating a natural polyptych ... it could be the woman; her memories; her fears; her alter ego. Other interesting quadratic interpretations are possible. Either way, the window framing seems natural and an important part of the meaning of the photograph. 8.

Touching the Clouds
by Nikolai1024

Comment:
This has got all sorts of brutal sharpening halos, and I don't care at all. I like the whacky, interesting composition, and I like the effect created by the processing artifacts ... as if the image is created by "cut-out" primary components, but balanced with beautifully subtle secondary details (sky and city background). Bold and pleasing. 8.

Air Dry
by Jutilda

Comment:
Simple idea, but really terrific composition. I've always been a composition man. 7.