Let's get down to it then. Remember, these are just my opinions so pay whatever attention you see fit.
Kenoh - a great forest shot. Really nice colours and atmosphere - can almost smell the damp, musty forest from this one. I especially like the highlights on the rotting tree stump with the background nicely out of focus. Like the line of the edge of the stump leading up from bottom left of the frame. A tree giving new life from old.
dwfaust - nice capture of a difficult subject given the amount of relief and the lack of control of lighting. Lots of character with grain splitting - makes me wonder how an oriental (style) carving got all the way to a house in Jerome Az. The carving has a nice patina but its a pity it gets in the way of the grain character. Definitely on theme.
Alexander - I like the uncluttered landscape and the elegant simplicity of the wooden bridge. Nice how the stream leads the eye to the bridge and the out-of-focus background leaves the bridge as the clear centre of attention. A bit more light on the bridge rather than just behind it would have been nice.
WJRush2000 - I like the use you've made of perspective here with the tree vanishing upwards. You've also done well with the relatively hard backlighting here, the sunstar and flare certainly capture the sunlight-through-the-trees atmosphere. The tree bark is nicely textured with a lot of interesting detail but perhaps slightly lacking in clarity for such a dominant element of the scene.
Koilvr - what a haunting image (in the best possible sense). The sinuous exposed roots are a glimpse of what is usually hidden below ground. The overall cool look gives the impression of a barren but once fruitful landscape - the tree being the last surviving living element (that sounds grand doesn't it?). Almost a graphic landscape.
Deep Diver - these Daguerreotype images of mid-Western scenes are great. The overall effect is to take you back 100-years ago to a time when most things were made from wood, the most common construction material available to the settlers. In fact everything but the grass is wood. Nice composition but I think I'd have preferred the shot to be taken from the other side of the foreground (birch?) tree to focus on the fence and barn.
Robotti - a different take on a backlit tree scene. Great exposure balance and nice colours. Particularly like the way the tree shadows lead the eye to the trees themselves, almost effectively making the trees look even taller. Good interest in the foreground with the roots and boulders in relief. great woodland scene.
MacRy - great idea; I'd never have thought of this. The simplicity of the overall composition is a little deceiving since there is a great deal of detail in the burnt match heads and in the charred wood. The charing has brought out a lot of the very fine grain detail. For some reason, I really like the narrow band of golden wood that separates the char from the unburnt match stick wood. A great photo IMHO.
Hughmac - like dwfaust's photo, this is probably the sort of thing I had in mind when setting the contest; something carved showing a bit of wood grain. Nicely exposed with a lovely colour of wood. A pity the hippo's head didn't have a great deal of detail but it is nicely posed and positioned in the frame to give it 'life". I like how you have used shallow Dof to give the perception of depth.
Apple fanboy - I like the way you've captured the light streaming through the trees. The B&W treatment and the bit of mist gives it a cold, remote feeling - a bit wintery. Works well as a graphic landscape but I think I'd prefer a bit higher contrast to get the best from that approach.
E3BK - Philippine Chainsaw Massacre! A great capture of someone having to concentrate on what they are doing. Lots of bits of wood but the bit I like best is the way the body line of the volunteer leads up to the dog sitting nonchalently watching what's going on. the sawdust in the air gives a bit of life to what could otherwise be a static scene.
Since OS-6 - right on theme here. You've captured a nicely distressed slice of a tree in a graphic format. With just a nice amount of sidelight to show all of the various cracks and crevices in relief, you've shown how detailed the structure of wood can be. I like the various colour bands but the white marks (top, middle) are a little distracting - perhaps remove in post?
inkmich - a before-and-after shot almost. I like the contrast between the natural structure of the tree bark in juxtaposition (for Kenoh) with the man-made structure of the mask. Nicely exposed with great colours but perhaps just a tad too-shallow DoF making the left side of the mask a bit soft.
cyclocommuter - Only one entry per contest I'm afraid. On the first entry I like the combination of man-made (steel) and wooden construction against the forest backdrop. Lovely autumnal colours in the trees. A pity that the sunlight has led to such high contrast in the scene, putting much of the wooden pillars into shade since what we can see has good surface interest and colour gradation. The second entry has great leaf colours and the potential for really interesting bark texture. I'd have focussed the composition more on the tree to get the best out of it - the foliage on the right doesn't really add much other than emphasise the solitary nature of this particular tree.
rx7dude - this is how it ends for a tree; a decaying electric line post being pecked-at by some flying critter...like the way you've captured the distressed texture of the post but perhaps a little too high-key for me (I'd guess a necessity shooting into the sky if you wanted the exposure of the woodpecker and post to be anywhere near right).
MCH-1138 - again right on theme. A plethora of textures and colours to take in here. Rich and reeking of age and utility.
CmdrLaForge - glad you made it in time. A great illustration of a tree as an ecosystem in its own right. I like the angle of the tree, its sinuous (that word again) canopy and the variety of leaf shapes but the strong contrast has lead to a bit of contrast loss in place.
I have to choose some winners and based on the theme:
1st equal - MCH-1138
2nd - MacRy
3rd - Kenoh/Hughmac/Since OS-6 and Robotti
Sorry for the cop-out of shared places but it was extremely difficult to judge - distinguishing between photos I particularly liked and those that were most on the theme as I had envisaged.
Well done everyone, hope the comments shed some light on where I came from. Over to you MCH-1138.
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Woodpecker
