mstrada

I really like the fog. If you had taken two steps to the right, the figure would have been entirely against the fog, which would have improved the image immensely. As it is, I almost wish the figure weren't there.

Very arresting image, but I agree with the comment above that it needs a bit more context. A wider lens might have helped (if this is a crop, I'd be curious to see what was cut). The child's face contrasts well enough with the drabness of the fence that you could have gone wider without worrying that the face would get lost. (Unless she was surrounded by distracting elements.)

Really beautiful, geometric landscape. I like the division of the frame into distinct areas, with the white structure functioning as a visual anchor.

 

Call me crazy, but I wonder if this would look better with the shore exactly in the middle. I know dogma says no to that, but I feel like it would really emphasize the geometric aspects of the shot. Or maybe rather than moving the shore to the middle, you could move it up a bit, so the picture is divided into equal geometric spaces.

 

Anyway, I'm just brainstorming ... It's a really pretty pic.

Christ, this is a great photo. I thought at first I was looking at a macro shot of something tiny ... Was detail Photoshopped out? If not, this is a pretty amazing separation of subject from background. I really like the harsh light and high contrast -- the image becomes nearly abstract. A real mind-bender.

What a great shot. Your placement of the truck and placement of the horizon/tree outline are both just perfect. I could see this on the cover of a news magazine about wildfires.

I like this shot a lot. However, I must say that I think I'd like the no-traffic cropped version better. (By manipulating the size of my browser window, I estimated what it would look like.) It would be a very different picture, but abstract and appealing. Personally, I'd leave the tops of the lightposts in, but crop everything below.

 

By the way -- right now you have 109 ratings in 913 views. Something about this picture prompts people to act.

Interesting shot, but the resolution is horrible and seriously detracts from the effect. I think this one begs to be vertical, too.

Re: Morwen's chart

 

Now THAT's good reading. I'm (before this post) 4,787 words from top-rated though. Perhaps I can increase the word-saturation of my comments in PhotoShop and move up the list.

 

 

[Hurriedly checking titles of pics I've uploaded...]

 

Phew ...

Gosh, I'm already drooling over the comments this one will provoke.

 

I'm really surprised at this selection. Maybe a picture like this is a revelation for those who don't live in major urban areas. For me, it is a pretty routine rendering of a pretty routine scene. Hate to say it, but it's true.

 

If the elves wanted to pick a photo of homeless people with a unique perspective or interesting emotional content, they could have done much better. (See, e.g., the link posted above.)

 

But -- apart from its artistic merit -- this picture is not exploitative. I know some of Ian MacEachern's shots have engendered a discussion on that topic, and I'm of the mind that there's social good in documentary work, whether the photographer handed the guy a fiver or not. Would it be any better if the photographer wrote an essay about this guy instead of taking his picture?

This is totally cool. I am astonished at the low ratings. It's so Magritte it doesn't know what to do with itself.

Really, really cool shot. I hope you took lots of pictures from wherever you were: I think an excellent exhibition of this shot would be in a side-by-side grouping of 3 or 4 shots from the same place, with different traffic patterns in each.

I like the composition of this shot a lot -- amusing juxtaposition of the pedestrian and the figures on the bus. I'd like to see the pedestrian more in focus, though. The cool part of the picture is the composition, not so much the motion.

I apply a simple test to what I put online, in any venue for any purpose: if I were facing this person, having this conversation, at a cocktail party, how would I say it?

 

Except for the few photo.net commentators who seem to suffer borderline personality disorder, I think you'd find that every brusque POW commentator would somehow find a way to make his/her point in a more polite way in an eye-to-eye conversation.

 

 

The child looks like he is conducting an invisible orchestra, which is absolutely charming. However, I really don't like the flare in the bottom right. It's a bit bright and too close to the subject. The banding across the top I like very much (whatever its cause). It suggests that the child is looking at brightly lit windows, and adds a great deal to the airiness of the photo.

 

For the same reason, I would definitely not crop anything off the top. The charm of the photo is its optimism -- closer borders would crush it.

Might have looked nice vertical -- my eye wants to see the top of the column.

(Sorry if this comment shows up twice -- there seem to be some serious problems on This Server today.)

 

This is a really damned pretty photo. I like the haziness (whether an artifact of your self-described poor scanner or of the air that day). The colors are spectacular as well -- I like the fact that they are a bit muted and not Velvified.

The only surprise about this picture being chosen POW is that is wasn't chosen sooner ... The benefit of the delay is that it arrives with a well-developed discussion in place.

 

I second, or third, or fourth, the accolades for the painterly quality of the shot. I think you've grabbed a great moment too -- everyone's attention is focused in one place -- one man is gesturing emphatically. The stage is nicely set for the viewer's importation of a story.

Very cool graveyard shot. It works so well because of the identical tombstones and even spacing -- a very geometric image among more haphazard trees and haze.

The caption turns what would otherwise be a snapshot into a cute scene.

Interesting light effect on the right. I can't quite figure out what's going on though ... It makes the shot look like it's trying to be conceptual/experimental, but the rest of the scene doesn't pick up the theme.

Beautiful lighting. I might like it a bit more without the piece of horizon visible at back left, but it's no deal-breaker.

What a cool shot from a unique angle. The poor sunflower looks like it is fighting an epic struggle.

Very interesting -- invites the viewer to construct a story.. Has an almost mythological feel to it.

 

I see a lot of blockiness in the background -- I assume it is an artifact of JPEG compression...

I think the composition has potential, but I'd consider cropping off the top. Also, overexposure is a little harsh.