Anniversary
by Tranquil

Comment:
Nice soft feeling to this.

Final Days
by pointandshoot

Comment:
I like the dying roses but the background is very unattractive.

True Friendship as Size Doesn't Matter
by sherpet

Comment:
Sherryl,

You have an excellent eye for composition. The shapes in the clouds echo the shapes in the water and both draw the eye to the taller man, thus emphasizing the contrast between their sizes. The result is a very powerful image that I like very much.

I left a comment on your Square Crop image in which I said that the use of overly bright fill flash weakened the image. This image was also taken with strong fill flash--and I also think that it would be better without it. The natural light in the scene is shining towards the front of the two men so their backs should be in shadow. But their backs are brightly lit and there are even shadows going towards the apparent light source. To me, this gives the image an unnatural quality. If you had turned off the flash, maybe it would even have gotten a ribbon.

--Dan

Ancient Forrest
by sherpet

Comment:
Sherryl,

I thought this photo was pretty good for the square crop challenge. (I gave it a 5.) The powerful wooden forms on the left interact with the jumble of smaller wooden shapes on the lower right. There is another dynamic relationship between the green leaves in the left foreground and those at a distance in the upper right. The square shape reinforces these relationships--and thus makes this a good entry for the challenge.

So why didn't it do better in the challenge? I've looked at the original that you posted and I think that the basic problem is the lighting rather than over processing. You shot with fill flash but it was too strong to just be a fill for the other light. The wooden shapes on the lower right are very harshly lit with highlights that are almost burned out and rims of dark shadows behind them. You have lost the nice texture that is apparent in the trunks on the left.

This is supposed to be an ancient forest. The natural light in a forest is filtered through the trees and is usually very soft. The light from the flash destroys the forest mood and makes the image look very unnatural.

You also used fill flash on your Odd Couple image. Please also read my comment on it.

--Dan

Portrait of a artist
by djonson

Comment:
I like this very much. It is an excellent portrait of an artist among her sculptures. There are some problems with the placement of the sculptures. Two of them seem to be growing out of the artist's head and the third is cut off in the middle.

Vintage Lines
by esdarby

Comment:
I like the feel of this.

Geometry
by Falc

Comment:
At first I did not care for this--it seemed a bit too obvious to use geometric shapes for a square challenge. But it has grown on me so I'm bumping it up.

Essence
by elsapo

Comment:
I keep coming back to this one so I'm bumping it up. The eyes get me.

Oh, the possibilities
by Elmakias

Comment:
I love it!

A deep, dreamless sleep that lasts forever.
by ksgant

Comment:
This is certainly the closest to the way I see afterlife.