Joy
by mmusicante

Comment:
This is nice, with a perfect title for the feel you've created. Amid all the joy-less comments you'll be getting about blown highlights, I'd like to say that I think your decision to expose & process the photograph this way is very clever. It establishes the relationship between the sax and the man's rapt expression as the visual hinge on which your image swings. So the peripheral margins aren't blown at all; they're just unimportant, to the man as well as to us. Bravo. 9

Cool Dude
by BKerr

Comment:
Love bass. Used to play one, but I never looked as cool as this guy. It's a nice composition and a crisp, professional-looking image. 7

Trial of strength :)
by letuananh

Comment:
Really super photograph; a wonderful moment, perfectly captured. It's a National Geographic image. Alas, it's not a live music image. I'm sure you know that, but thanks for entering it anyway ... it won't score well but it will give us all a lot of pleasure. It is just fabulous! If only the buffalo had had a damned bell!

Sunset Harmony
by roadrunner

Comment:
Lovely elegant pose from the model, and a simple and harmonious composition from the photographer. 8

Saturated Drummer
by Hes2Thin

Comment:
Even though I really dislike this combination of colours, I have to score your image high because: (a) I am colourblind; and (b) it's actually a quite original idea and composition. 7

Late Night Bass
by AlanBes

Comment:
This is a lovely, silky photograph of my favourite instrument. You don't need another comment about the challenge being LIVE music, I guess? Didn't think so. I can't score it as highly as I might in some other challenge, but It's a very beautiful image anyway.

Danny "Boy" Guneratne
by ergo

Comment:
Good Grief! Is this a Sri Lankan bagpipe player? I can't imagine what that might sound like, but it looks pretty good in your photograph. I particularly like the expression on the second musician, which adds a lot of interest to the image. 7

The Patient Gardener
by JohnTF

Comment:
Lovely idea, lovingly captured. There are technically better photographs in the challenge, but none that are more thoughtful and elegant than this. Terrific composition, too. And a great title. 8

1957
by KaDi

Comment:
Good grief! I didn't vote in this challenge, but I am dismayed at the number of commentators who obviously feel that the 'blown' portions of this image (and any image, I suspect) are by definition 'bad photography'. Of course, people are entitled to be narrow-minded. But surely they should at least have the wit to recognise that the photographer clearly intended the effect in this case, and isn't now sitting reading their comments, slapping her forehead and saying, "What was I thinking ... how could I have missed that?".

Intensity
by Sonifo

Comment:
This is a spectacular photograph. Masterful composition; every element is carefully positioned, and is contributing to the whole. There's nothing uncertain and nothing wasted. (I don't think it's going too far to compare it to good classical music, from a compositional point of view ... makes me think of "Night on the Bare Mountain' by Mussorgsky). Terrific tonal range, with satisfying detail throughout. Also a fascinating range of textures. It's an image filled with interest and reward for the viewer who cares to give it a couple of minutes' study. For example, if that's a rain guage on the second post, it's a very clever inclusion. I only choose one 10 and this is it. (I suppose some will quibble about the sharpening artifacts on the barbed wire, but I think the extra definition was necessary in this case)