jim_meyer1

Overall, an excellent shot - nice progression from foreground to the rocks to the sky to create a great sense of depth. Dramatic sky and lots of interesting elements in the foreground and mid-distance. My only suggestion is that the horizon looks a little tilted (or is it my imagination?). This could be fixed easily by cropping a little off the edges and rotating the picture. Very nice!

I like the colors and the subtlety of the light. The texture of the sand is interesting - in fact, I would suggest trying to get more emphasis on the foreground. It's hard to tell from the thumbnail, but possibly if you got a little closer to the ground, the texture of the sand would show up better. The sky is nice but sort of undifferentiated, so it should fade into the background. Some cropping to make the horizon a little less than halfway might also add to the dynamics of the picture. Overall, I think it is a very good concept and technically quite good.

For those of you who are wondering what this is, I have a close approximation. This is a shellfish, like a conch. They have eyes that protrude on stalks, and good vision. Once they spot their prey, they pounce on it and cut into it with a saw-like device called a radulal. That's about all I remember from my college days (over 30 years ago) when I studied marine biology. Nice photo, too!

Great shot! Just a technical note - the vapor is created when the plane creates a relative vacuum as it plows at a steep angle through humid air. The drop in pressure behind the plane causes surrounding air to rush in to the low-pressure area. As it moves in, the lower pressure causes the air to release some of its moisture in the form of water droplets, visible as condensation. A beautiful sight, especially if you love aircraft!

This is an interesting photo, it captured my attention immediately. It is also very well-done, with great lighting and sharpness. I notice you also managed not to get yourself and your camera in the reflection. Nice shot, unusual and original.

Great shot. Excellent lighting, colors, composition. I almost think you could isolate the plant even more and still have a great picture. It would go from a landscape to an intimate close-up. I don't find the dark areas distracting - in fact, I think they enhance the overall movement and add drama to the photo.

As people have brought up before in this forum, the "Originality" rating is rather... well... too subjective? How about rating these photos the way judges rate professional ice skaters? That is, on the basis of "Technical Merit" and "Aesthetics?" Then we could all benefit from explanations as to why a picture is technically excellent, such as lighting, exposure, etc. And aesthetically, such as composition, drama, and so on. Just an idea.