devilgas

i like the lighting and concept of this. you need to watch your highlights on the back of the hand though. pro rules meant you could've used masking to prevent the blown highlights.

the missing comment....
"not sure what viewpoint you used, but i find with sport shots, especially junior rugby, that a low view point is essential"
to qualify that: a low viewpoint gives more prominence to the subjects as you are no longer looking down on the subject.

also....where'd that ghostly adult come from in the near background? ;) think i'd have cloned him out if this was the only shot i could work with.

a nice attempt, but several things could be done here to improve the shot....
the lighting is particularly harsh and has cast strong shadows. using indirect flash would help even things out. also try playing with different angles for the lighting.
the black of the mask merges a bit too easily with the background. choosing either a different background or a bit of brightening on the mask will help.

this needed more playing with the channels to help differentiate the players from the grass

way to go. this is great!

great lighting and expression, however the image is just a little soft robbing us of the texture in the skin

nice gritty feel, but i think the focus is too soft thus negating the ultra-grittiness the image deserves.

the post processing here has let the image down. there are just way too many dodgy artifacts in the clouds. i think i'd have also preferred to see the wire lead in from the top right rather than begin 1/4 of the way across

love the photo, but hate the bit of paper. without being able to read it, it's context is lost. better therefore to leave it out entirely as it unnecessarily draws attention away from the main subject.

it's a nice candid of a photo of tourists photo'ing a tourist attraction, but i'll be honest and say that i'm struggling to see admiration though.

this is great! typical uk weather. my only minor criticism is the sharp background visible by the boys right elbow.

like the psycho-esque border. i think the knife needs to be more prominent in the image though.

a nicely lit photo, but again, i'm at a complete loss as to what the non-concrete expression actually is.

this would've been great if the pages were in sharp focus at the tips. as it stands, they're not sharp anywhere. using a great DOF would've helped as would controlling the movement of the pages which is what i suspect affected this shot.

ok, took about 30 seconds to get it, but i'm not convinced "balancing the books" is an oxymoron. assuming of course the 30 seconds did indeed 'get it'.
that said, i'm not overly keen on the horizontal composition. perhaps a diagonal would've suited it better? nice use of sepia toning.

simple and very effective. nicely done!

cool photo of a giraffe. just a shame that pole was in the background.

i really like the colouring in this and the fact the border matches the stems & edges of the glasses. it's a shame the mirror distorts as much as it does for the base of the glass, but there's not a lot can be done about that other than using a non glass mirror.

great entry and i like the screaming border ;-)

my favourite. adore the colour blue you've got here

can't say i'm keen on seeing the burning paper in the background. it probalby would've been better to cover the ice in meths or something then light that.

i think this is a great photo. the composition is there, the colouring is there, but i'm just not getting "extinct life" from it, which is a shame.

cool idea! to really make it convincing, it would've been nice to see some other objects in the background the 'right' way up. i could get really picky and say that the reflections in the dumbell give the floor / ceiling orientation away, but that'd be nitpicking.

the colours in this are great and i really like the composition. cool pun on the oxymoron!

nice, but the focus is out. i need to see something sharp, preferably the ES thread, but it's eluding me!