raghuveermakala

Absolutely beautiful!

Truly splendid! Great composition, wonderful shadows with detail throughout!! Yet another great shot from you, Hats off!!

Thanks Tony and Dejan!

The castle dates from the 16th century and it's one of the few original castles still standing in Japan.

Very peaceful and serene! Congratulations on a great shot!

Nice shot! Did you try cropping out the sky completely or most of it? I imagine the image will look even better!

Nice shot! What did you do to annoy him/her? :-)

Great shot Marc! Thanks for sharing! Were you on top of a taller dune?

I never thought about cropping the image till you suggested, Stephen! And I'm glad I did! I like the cropped version too.. Thanks once again for your critique!

Thanks for the comments! I'm glad many like this shot! Following Stepen's suggestion, I'm posting a cropped version here:

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=11082736

Thanks for the suggestion, Stepen!

I can't decide which one looks better, but think that the cropped version has an abstract feel to it! What do you all think?

Thanks for the kind comments and suggestions! You can read more about the "Firefall" on Michael Frye's wonderful blog:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/yosemite-journal/?p=128#more-128;

http://www.michaelfrye.com/articles/horsetail.html

Yosemite's natural firefall: A number of conditions permitting,

Horsetail Falls in Yosemite, turns into a ribbon of surreal color,

backlit by the setting sun. This rare phenomenon can be witnessed a

few days each February when the weather Gods co-operate with:

sufficient snow at the source, warm weather to melt some of it and

then a clear sunset in a usually cloudy and stormy February!

Meoto Iwa aka the Wedded Rocks, are a couple of rocky stacks in the

sea off Futami near Ise, Japan. They are joined by a heavy rope and

are considered sacred. According to Shinto traditions, the rocks

celebrate the union in marriage of man and woman. Apparently, the

rope, which weighs over a ton is replaced several times a year. The

larger rock, said to be male, has a small torii at its peak. The best

time to see the rocks is at dawn during the summer, when the sun

appears to rise between them. On rare occasions (certainly not on

this!) a silhouette of Mount Fuji is also visible in the distance.