First of all, sorry for the delay, mixture of unexpected work commitments and some ISP problems!


Anyway, a belated thank you for some marvellous pictures this week. My comments as follows...


rod_grant...like the greens and the composition in this one
daacon, I enjoyed playing "spot the beaver", but also liked the strong verticals
atupdate,lovely sculptural feel to those roots
slowpez, the mono works really well here, a great sense of "place"
matb123, lovely reflections and good use of colour
Tamia - what a good use of monochrome, really nice light too
K david - very effective plant portrait, but I miss the sense of the woods in this one
ars - great mist and a strong composition with a good lead in
MadMathMind - this conveys a great sense o the place, and good textures
charliezap, a great reflection shot with unusual colours too
outis - quite an intriguing picture - good diagonal theme
jacamar - love the muted colours here, and the vertical emphasis
sealonsf - nice natural close up
DoctorX - far too scary!
Dieterson - great, great lighting, the magic of the woods indeed
sunrepairer - nice subject, well isolated, very "woody"
ramseybuckeye - an interesting find, good colours
chmance - a great subject, well captured
normhead - love the backlighting and the starburst, what a great place to 2rough it"
Hattifnatt- great atmosphere and delicate colours
tessfully - antother superb shot - I love the pattern
noelcmn - a good wildlife shot, perhaps could do with a bit more cropping




Some really interesting images this week, a great response to my theme, just what I was hoping for...so the winners are:


3rd normhead, I love the sense of "outdoors" in this image











2nd Tamia for a very dramatic mono shot with some super textures and well controlled exposure











1st, Dieterson, for capturing some real magic

[ramseybuckeye]

Well done and congratulations Dieterson! Also Tamia and Norm, beautiful pics. Excellent choices Stephen, and a great challenge!

[Dieterson]

Thak you Stephen for hosting this challenge! There were a lot of good entries, and I enjoyed in how many different ways the topic was interpreted. I feel really honored that my picture won this week. Tamia and Norm, you have shot two great pictures there, too!

I will see that I come up with a new theme and post it soon.

[slowpez]

Congrats Dieterson and also to Tamia and Norm. That was a wonderful image and quite magical. Thanks for the interesting challenge Stephen and for commenting on all the entries.

[noelcmn]

Congrats Dieterson- that is indeed a magic shot, well done! Congrats too Tamia and Norm. Fabulous images in this challenge, inspirational too. Thanks Stephen for the challenge, and the judging exercise. Great stuff!

[charliezap]

Congrats to the winners and kudos for a fine job of judging.I'm looking forward to the new challenge.---charliezap

[daacon]

Well done all it was a fun challenge nice job on the judging

[Hattifnatt]

Congratulations everybody !! great pictures.

[Tamia]

Congratulations Dieterson on your charming and inspired photo! Congratulations to Norm, too -- what a lovely woodsy scene. I can almost smell the aromas and hear the red squirrels and birds. Super job judging and commenting, Stephen, and thanks for the podium position. Terrific photos from everyone shows the theme was a good one.

[tessfully]

Wonderful challenge Stephen! Congrats Dieterson ... good eye, creatively imagined, magically rendered! Congratulations to Tamia and Norman for 2nd and 3rd placing. Loved both images very much.