Surrounded
by riversong

Comment:
Technicals: A shot which scores 6+ has to have gotten the basics right and this is no exception. You control the snow which is probably the most important aspect of the picture. Portrait orientation is good for this shot and we see a leading line in the fence which gets us eventually to the house.

The feel: The bare sign is a bit of a hindrance since it doesn't serve as a very good foreground subject. Our eye is drawn to it, but we get no reward for looking at it. The sign is gone and we don't know what the purpose was. It also is not very pretty and actually breaks up the leading line somewhat. Sometimes you can't do much about it, but perhaps working on the point of view or composition could have minimized it just a bit more. Finding another foreground subject, even if it has to be placed (but not look like it's placed. :) I do this ALL the time) might be helpful.

The game: 6+ scores are always to be appreciated. A nice picture.

Message edited by author 2008-01-23 18:02:11.

Cuddle Buddy
by XMountaineer

Comment:
Technicals: You were a bit challenged by the environment and your equipment. The direct, on camera flash is always a bit tough because it either tends to be too strong or not strong enough. Once you decide to graduate to a flash unit, the easiest thing to do is point it at the ceiling. You tend to have much smoother light which will remove two problems with this shot: a) the yellow buddy is overexposed and b) the sharp shadows behind your dog's ear. The composition isn't bad. I like the vertical orientation, although I might want to see a bit more context (so not as zoomed in). Of course that always depends on what would come into the picture if we zoomed out.

The feel: Intimate. I like that. Reminds me of a cairn terrier I had as a kid. The dog has a nice emotive look.

Overall not a bad attempt for what you had to work with. Personally I recommend you work at getting away from a flash. Flash has its use, but it tends to really give an artificial feel to a picture (or sometimes it makes it feel like a "snapshot"). I try my hardest to not use a flash, even one I can point at the ceiling.

Nighthawk
by h2

Comment:
like the shot a lot. Love the creativity with the self-portrait. I have a blast trying to do a shot like this because I don't think anybody else wants to go out to an abandoned phone booth in the middle of the night.

Past
by Structor

Comment:
You need to start leaving some details on your shots... :)

Achoo's Pain
by Rando D300

Comment:
Great shot Randy! I love seeing that you had a number of people actually fooled. :)

...like a spring, whose waters never fail.
by mpeters

Comment:
I thought this would be Top 5!

Reflections on the Potomac
by levyj413

Comment:
Mmmm, I've been here before. Way to go on a PB!

Herring River, Clearing Storm
by Bear_Music

Comment:
You sure gained over the week. Congrats on yellow!

Frosty Flow
by Structor

Comment:
Nicely done. Congrats on blue!

No wonder to be one of the World's Seven Wonders.
by iyadrally

Comment:
This must be a duplicate somewhere, eh? It looks like Petra, but it isn't.