| Firstly, an appeal. Can all entrants ensure their entry is given a title. And can you try and make the filename the same or very similar to the title too – makes publishing to the internet easier for Si. |
| Secondly, your picture will nearly always look better if you put a frame around it – its not so bad on the gallery – but on the voting page on the website, they can look a little less than perfect. And you don’t need photoshop to do a border – photofilter is a freeby and works very well. |
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| Untitled |
| Mark says: I like the three towers, works well compositionally. Good amount of detail in the sky. The first tower seems to have blown highlights on the brickwork. |
Ron Says: A nice shot with straight verticals and level horizontals. A little
more depth of field so that more of the building was in good focus
would have been better. |
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| The
Hiker |
| Mark Says;
The main subject is quite small in the picture, but is sat pretty well in the frame and is walking into the picture up the diagonally placed path and road. I don’t like the telegraph pole as it is – either shouldn’t be there or should see the top – just bugs me as is. |
Ron Says: A good try and I do like parts of this shot. |
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| Untitled
- Still life |
| Mark Says;
An interesting shot – I quite like it, but I almost wish the far bottle was also a candle – things just work better in threes! Good colours and great mood. |
Ron Says: Something different with this shot and it works. I would have made
the glass and the front sheet the centre of focus then it would have
been great. |
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| A
Boat named Prosperity |
| Mark Says;
There is a lot to like in this shot. I like the angle, the perspective and the view up the key is nicely out of focus to define the boat edge. However, I don’t like the blue on the doors at the top – it pulls the eye too much. And the shot lacks punch; seems to be a bit flat. I would also have cropped it just a touch to get rid of the white edge at the left. |
Ron Says: This shot has too many distracting things going on in it. It is a good subject that I don’t think worked as well as it could. |
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| Steam in Minature |
| Mark Says;
I would have preferred a much tighter crop into the engine – the people on the back don’t add anything for me – the photographer may have taken it because there was someone they knew on the train. Its also under quite harsh lighting which has produced some hard shadows. Not my favourite I’m afraid. |
Ron Says: Unless you are a steam fan this is just another family snap. If it had been of the engine alone it would have been better |
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| Under
the Humber |
| Mark Says;
This is generally a good shot. There are several things that I think could be done to improve it however. Move position so that the railing is out of shot. Move just a little to the right so that the bridge is more central. Exposure is difficult due to the sky and under bridge being so far apart. I would have probably taken two shots exposed for the two elements and blended into one shot in post. The shadow/highlight tool may work in Photoshop too. But back to the positives, the perspective of the bridge is great, really makes it look big! The sky does have some detail which is a lot better than just a washed out white sky |
Ron Says: A different slant to photographing the Humber Bridge that has some
appeal. The exposure has been well balanced between the bridge and
the sky. |
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| Country
Mill Manchester |
| Mark Says;
I look at this shot and see 4 elements to it. The foreground, the river, the red bank and finally the mill. For me, this is not working – but that could be me! The reason being that there are 4 elements and there is nothing really linking them. |
Ron Says: A good shot with all of the right ingredients, water, trees, a building
but with just a little to much foreground. |
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| Swan
Lake |
| Mark Says;
Nice enough shot of the two swans, but they are over exposed and a bit blown out. |
Ron Says: A lot of water but saved by the ripple and good light. |
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| North
Landing (at Flamborough) |
| Mark Says;
I’m guessing this is the same author as the earlier boat shot. Its got a fair bit going for it, but I think more could have been made of the rocks to frame the shot better. It also looks a little flat to me. |
Ron Says: A good shot with a lot of interest but is it just me or do some of
the shots this month lack the contrast that would give them a good
lift. |
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| Blue
Eyes - SECOND |
| Mark Says;
This is a fabulous shot! This is one of a few shots when popping the colour really does work. The chin of the cat is slightly obscured by something and the fur is slightly blown on the right side. But this should do well. |
Ron Says: If the shot is of a cat and the shot like this one is good then II
like it. |
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| Eagle
at Lunch |
| Mark Says;
This is one of mine. What irritates me is the white blob at the top – but my quick attempts at removing it didn’t work – and I ran out of time and patients! |
Ron Says: A lovely shot with the subject well placed in the frame. It is a
pity about the light blob at the top right and the marks of sensor
dust. |
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| Welsh
River |
| Mark Says;
My second. I just liked it! |
Ron Says: This is a nice winter shot that holds my eye in the frame. Well done |
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| Well,it
helpd to pass the time |
| Mark Says;
Good fun shot which doesn’t need much explanation! Just seems a little washed out, but that could be fixed in post with a little contrast I think |
Ron Says: A fun shot but it is just that. |
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| Color
of Winter |
| Mark Says;
Good composition, the house is sat on the thirds, but is possibly a little high – I would have liked to have seen more room above it - not much, just a bit. There is a nice leading diagonal into the shot. Good effort. |
Ron Says: A good subject with your eye being lead in from left to right, but it lacks the punch needed to lift it up. It’s a bit flat it needs more contrast. |
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| Refelctions
and Mist - WINNER |
| Mark Says;
Another fabulous shot. The tree line and the water line on the left draw the eyes into the picture, right into the break in the trees. Should be somewhere near or at the top of the pile! |
Ron Says: Great sky, great reflections and some mist have come together to
make a great shot. |
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| Immature
Bald Eagle |
| Mark Says;
Great portrait of the eagle. Lighting and pose are perfect. What else can I say? |
Ron Says: Good well focused shot against a plain sky that sets the eagle of well. |
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| Into
the caraffe - Joint THIRD |
| Mark Says;
A well executed abstract shot. Cropping it square with the whole of the outer ring in shot would have made it better I think. |
Ron Says: A shot that I liked when it was filling my screen, the larger picture made me think that each tiny bubble was a small universe with some thing in each one. Well done |
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| Bubble
Resting |
| Mark Says;
I like this shot overall. The two bright spots at the bottom pull the eye away a bit too much, but the bubble is sat nicely in the top third of the shot. Good effort. |
Ron Says: Strange but interesting so not a lot I can say. |
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| Steel
Structure |
| Mark Says;
Almost perfectly symmetrical, this works really well. The flare in the centre could be removed if wanted quite easily. Well done. |
Ron Says: This is a good try at a difficult subject and I don’t think
it worked to well. |
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| Amazing
Mosaic - Joint THIRD |
| Mark Says;
The title says it all really. Perhaps a little more saturation and its not perfectly central top to bottom. But it’s a great shot all the same. Should do well. |
Ron Says: Good colour radiating from the edges drawing your eye to the lovely
colours in the centre. |