Cool experiment. That's a lovely contour effect, and surprisingly sharp. Reminds me a bit of looking down a green laser.

Lovely colour and movement - would like to see a note about where this came from :)

That is great light, partially because of the over-cast sky I guess, giving the balance of moody sky but strong contrast and colour on the land where the sun is bright but from a restricted direction.

The colour is all quite muted (the limited palette), but feels rich. This seems to be true of many of the best shots of Scottish scenery. Just needs a purple highlight of thistle and you've got a travel brochure shot. Actually, I guess the sky gives the purple. Time to contact the Scottish Tourism Marketing Board. :) Oh no wait, frightened sheep probably isn't their thing. And it does indeed look like you've spooked the sheep!

I like the low-down focus of the shot with the sheep only in the bottom 15%. I would have been tempted to chop off nearly half of that sky, but that would have been a waste!

I'm not normally a big fan of frames, they can be so badly used. But this is bold yet fitting; it really adds something.

Rob "still hasn't got the hang of concise critiques" Egginton

I thought this was barbed wire to begin with.

What I particularly like about this is the smokiness of the trails - they are not solid lines. I assume that's because the light is flickering at a certain frequency, and the bugs are flying fast enough so they are only lit intermitently.

An unusual and interesting shot.

Rob

I love seeing a well-known view presented in a different way, which you have certainly done here. And in doing so you have made quite a piece of art. The overlay of the in-focus detailed cobbles and the out-of-focus reflection looks unreal - the sort of thing one might attempt in PS.

The dry patch on the left just adds to the whole - the imperfection that makes the whole perfect. Sorry, that's a little over the top, but I've had a drink and just really like this shot :)

Rob

I think you've captured the light just right here, making the ice have that "inner glow" so that it seems more like a sculpture in glass.

Good composition and DOF, such that the thorn is the sharpest point, pun intended. With almost no background details at all, it actually gives me a sense of vertigo! Or that may just be that I had no breakfast.

Welcome to TL from someone who's been here only a few days himself!

Looking forward to seeing what else you post in future,
Rob (maderlock)

Nice framing and composition. That must actually be red wood, or some very nice PP in order to still get the colour right through the bottle. The metal part would be easier. As usual with your shots, this is all about the light - reflection, refraction, specular, diffuse.

Works best as just art, because it's almost too idealised as a photo :)

While I can see that you are making a point with this picture, which is admirable, the shot itself leaves me somewhat cold. The drawing effect just makes the church look oversharpened, the flagpole is too low a resolution to include this big, and the flag and sun are of different styles again.

For me, this wasn't up to your usual standard, I fear.

I can't decide if this is tranquil or, quietly, enormously violent.

On the one hand, the minimalistic white expanse could be a blanketting fog, and the foreground water is smooth and soothing.

However, the lightening of the left side of the boats - sorry - starboard side of the boats suggests a huge white-hot explosion on the left of the shot! I think this effect is mostly due to the over-exposure of one side of the far-left boat.

The framing reminds me of some minimalistic over-exposed shots like http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Denmark/photo120806.htm , or perhaps the workshop thereof.
Hope cross-linking is OK here :)

The experiment works for me. Of course, I may have taken something away that you weren't quite meaning.

Nice composite. Perfectly aligned. I assume it is a composite? If not, where can I get transparent match-boxes, because that is very cool. Go on, write a little note :)

Works well against the minimalistic white background. Looking at the shadows, was this against a light surface already, or did you have to PP to remove unwanted background?

Obviously I like the composition, but I would have been tempted to have the matches round the other way, such that the heads where under a more transparent section. There is some nice detail there that would have added to this macro-shot, in my opinion. Just what I would have done.