I'm Free!
by Judi

Comment:
Good perspective and nice use of a wide angled lense. Like the balance the foreground plants add to the image. Conveys the sense of freedom one feels when alone in communion with nature. The red rocks look a lot like those around Sedona, Arizona USA but I suspect this was taken in Utah or Colorado.
During my wanderings in the desert I never had enough energy to raise my arms that enthusiastically and I would have killed to find a pond of water as inviting as the one in your image. :) - Steve

Butterfly & Thistle
by GeneralE

Comment:
The quality of the black and white in this image is superb. It is a somewhat abstract composition that may not appeal to all viewers. It is always dangerous to have a lot of shallow focused detail in the foreground of an image and some viewers may vote it lower because of it.
The image is very appropriate for the challenge, though. For quite a bit of the time while I was lost I felt like I was in a very "thorny" situation. :) - Steve

The red house
by TNCameron

Comment:
Very wide depth of field works with this image. Like the sharpness across the whole frame. Composition is fine and this is definitely an inviting place for a "lost" landscape photographer. This should score hhigh in the challenge.
I'd have chose this over being lost in the desert any day. I hope the place has one of those voluptuous upstairs French maids. I need one. LOL!
For all you people out there that still think the earth is flat, you are wrong. Here is the proof. See up at the top of the picture? The horizon is curved. That is proof positive the Earth is round. Take that you flatlanders! - Steve

Colorado?
by bryanbrazil

Comment:
I want to make it perfectly clear right now... that big horned sheep told me she was 18! How was I to know she was underaged?
Nicely done. I've always wanted to be in a diorama. The image clarity and quality is excellent. Technically superior image. You made me a natural part of the scene. I even got that big horned hair look. What could be better?
This picture better score high or I'm sending my sheep friends to head butt all the low voting trolls! - Steve

At the Bar!
by amber

Comment:
Ah, Hah! The truth comes out. It was bound to happen. You see, I'm Scottish and it is easy for us to get lost in an Irish pub. Get a few rounds in us and we are three sheets to the wind. It has been known to take some Scotsmen a lot longer to find the door than me. Guess I was lucky it was open. All I remember is a scuffle with some scoot-riding Hell's Angels over the Blarney Stone. I think I won it in a poker game. Anyway, knowing that I'd get in trouble I made up a story about being lost in the desert. It was working good until you submitted this picture. Dang you!
Superb picture. Incredible post processing and attention to detail in a technically superior image. Composition and framing is good. Sharp as a tack. This should be a top finisher. - Steve

Wait... I think I recognise that silhouette!!!
by Kelli

Comment:
Yup, that's me. Looks just like Indiana Jones missing his right arm. Lost the arm when I had to fight off a herd of javalina that attacked me while lost in the desert. Thank goodness I found a den of diamondback rattlers nearby and was able to grab them by their tails and fling them at the marauding herd to fend it off. Indiana Jones hates snakes... I hate javalina. This is just one of the many unknown dangers I faced while fighting for my life against vicious animals, claim jumpers, cattle rustlers and horse thieves in 120 heat without water or food for 40 days and 40 nights.
Oh, yeah... the picture... Nice sharp black silhouettes against the clouded sky. Make the "lost photographer" look a lot more dude than he really is. That is a big plus in my book. Given the funky fuzziness in the tree on the far left I'd consider cropping that out of the composition all together. That would give a tighter crop and place the photographer closer to the left rule of thirds line. You could also make the image the same size and that would make me bigger... another big plus. Then you would achieve perfection. ;) - Steve

Last seen in Photoland a.k.a. Iceland
by tomz

Comment:
This sepia accurately captures the look and feel of of my time alone even though this is Iceland. The Sonoran desert here has more vegetation than much of Iceland but it has a open starkness to it that connects the two regions in a fundamental way.
The dark highligting on the bottom works well in the composition. The clouds almost look like smoke rising from an ancient volcano. Nicely done - Steve

In the Mountains
by LKMote

Comment:
Nice capture and great color. The blue is exceptional and the brown tones very nice. If you could find some foreground cactus to add to the composition this would be a great image. (At this point I'd dip into my collection of cactus pictures and make a composite out of it)
Except for being a lot greener, this looks much like the terrain I saw where I was at. I can see an ocotillo up on the hill. The monsoon came on so strong that the desert started greening up a lot AFTER I got back. Rain works magic on the desert. It can turn things green in just a few days. It is an amazing transformation. As it was the desert saw fit to supply me with enough water to survive. - Steve

He's at the end of the road, on the hill there.
by vjoz

Comment:
The backlighting and light reflection off the road contrasting with the sihlouette of the trees makes this image good. The picture has a bit of softness to the overall image that gives it a slightly surrealist feel. It is clean image with no distracting elements. Showing the photographer going over the hill makes this image fit the challenge topic well. Great job.
I went over planty of hills in my journey but always knew I'd come back. - Steve

Dude, Where's My Car
by ShaneBlake

Comment:
Boy, you got that one right! Very funny! Actually, the car was there with one broken side window, but the camera equipment was gone. Major bummer! It felt the same as if the car were gone, though. :(
Like the image and the concept... fits the challenge topic well, at least for me. The background horizon looks a little strange with all those fuzzy spots. Did you do something to the image or is that the way the horizon was? Being the nitpicker that I am, I'd either cut off more of the legs and highlight the upper body or include the whole right shoe in the composition. Having minor elements only partially within the frame without a specific reason acts as a viewer distraction.
Bottom line... I like sunsets, the image is funny even though it reminds me of one of the lower moments of my trek and it shows how desolate I felt at times. Nice job getting all that in one image. - Steve