dave_s

Dean, hi.  I never do ratings or critiques here, but since you wanted some discussion on your work, here's comments.

I like this image and it stands out from your other stuff.  It works as a pure composition, and it does not depend on content.  You could spend a lot of time thinking about this file to try to develop your best interpretation.  Incidentally, I suggest you get Photoshop, or Elements, or download GIMP.

Why the composition works:  three reasons.  The big one is you have something like a spiral, drawing the eye from the top right into the photo, towards an endpoint where the sunlight is in the background.  Second thing is you have a nice balance of lights and darks, with a band of low values breaking it up from side to side.  Third thing is the nearly monochromatic color.  This photo (for me) would not work as a black and white.

Only technical criticisms are (a) nothing looks completely sharp to me, and I wonder if you have a bit of handheld camera motion, and (b) it arguably could have used a stop more exposure (see below).

I fooled around with the image to see how I would interpret it.  First off, the histogram shows the image is quite low-key. The deep shadows are off the scale in places, and you could have given it more exposure. On the other hand, the backlit silhouetted trees are what make the image work, so no big deal.

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/13610872-lg.jpg

I adjusted the contrast a bit with the Curves tool.  The way I see it, I wanted to keep the low values low, but I also wanted to lift the lighter colored foliage to bring out a range of greens.

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/13610852-lg.jpg

If this were mine, I'd crop the image to place the patch of sunlight just above and to the left of center-- see below. Your mileage may vary, and there are many interpretations of this image.

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/13610832-lg.jpg

I don't think I've ever seen a still picture that conveys this much motion. I actually get a little dizzy looking at this-- it feels like I'm looking at a movie. I don't know if anyone else had this impression.

Congratulations on a nice piece of work.