This is very nice, and I like the glass

Congrats on a well deserved win! This was a fantastic photo

Awesome!

Excellent! Maybe not quite so tight of a crop so that we could see all of the die but still very nice

I pretty sure you already commented jaded

I hate you Author.

I agree Author and I kind of assumed that was the case here,but on the same token a great subject that isn't properly composed can break the photo. But you could crop out most of the background, play with the curves a bit, and then the channels and it would make this entry really nice. The only reason I criticized it at all is that I know who you are and I know that you can do better than this. If nobody calls you out on what you do wrong then you'll never get better. All that being said I also think this is pretty cool, just trying to make you strive to be better.

Well that's neat, does the rest of the building have this type of unique style?

Very nice job with the makeup, but the shot leaves a bit to be desired.

yup it certainly is!

Not all HDR looks fake, there are many different ways to edit HDR. The entire concept of HDR is to bring a higher range to an image, if a photographer decides to overdo it or over saturate it thats completely up to them but it doesn't mean that all HDR has to look that way. So to say it looks fake and belongs in it's own category is kind of an ignorant statement. You could say that a particular shot looks fake but not that all HDR does. If you were to see an HDR image that was done the way HDR was originally intended you would not be able to tell just by looking at it, it would have to be pointed out to you.

Author this is a nice shot but unfortunately selective color isn't allowed in the photo contests

http://www.pxleyes.com/guidelines/photography/

Read this and watch it closely so you don't have to go down the long frustrating road of having your entries pulled.

Very, Very nicely done Author. I love the dof on this and the detail of the rope is great!

This is very confusing, kinda makes my head swim. Nice find though, it is certainly unique. What is this building author?

Very nicely done author, I like the dof on this one, and such a great idea! Best of luck to you

I'm all for technicality but I think that's a little extreme. It looks like a square to me, I'm sure if I busted out a micrometer, the squares of the chess board wouldn't be perfect either.

Awesome !!!!!

Oh and the photo itself is a square! Nice Idea

The reflection in the eye is SO clear, thats really cool, nice job.

I can see both points, either way it's creative

Holy crap, this is absolutely amazing! The only thing that I would fix is... who the hell am I kidding, this is PERFECT!

I REALLY like the lighting on this one!

ah yep, that would do it. Still very nice though

I just showed my wife, I didn't say anything about it just turned the screen toward her and her jaw about hit the floor, so we're not the only one's with issues

Ok wow, not trying to be immature but a conch shell is not the first thing I see here, it's certainly not helped by the water. Lol nice find author, you little pervert

Very nice Author, the only suggestion I have is that I would like to have seen more DOF, but other than that this is well done

I'm with captgeo, this is image manipulation but I think it should be allowed to stay as well as HDR shots. The rule that includes photo stitching and HDR should be done away with, it isn't changing the picture or adding to it, it's simply combining several images, a practice that is widely accepted in the photo world an is allowed on every other photo site out there.

One of the coolest characters of that book but sadly one of the first forgotten, great title and the tree is beautiful, it seems just a bit OOF but that may just be your camera. Good Job Author, and good luck

Ah ha ha ha ha! Love this!

good luck man!

VERY nice Author! This is beautiful

I just did the same karaflazz and you are correct boosting the contrast +2 does not in fact lose the edge detail, however only adding +2 does not bring the black of the pips anywhere near the level it needs to be so that is kind of a moot point.

Anything else is a matter of opinion and I was just voicing mine.

But the real point I was trying to make was that people are way to damn sensitive on this site, this is supposed to be a community where artists of all levels can come together to share, to learn, and to have fun. But you know what, that can't seem to happen because we all have to be so juvenile and petty. I did not mean for my statements to come across as offensive, but the Author decided to take offense to them anyway, instead of asking what I was implying they immediately got snippy. Now I could see taking that view if I constantly picked at this person but I don't, actually quite the opposite, I've only ever commented on one of this person's entries and it was a positive comment. People need to remember that there is a lot of ways comments can be misunderstood, we are dealing with a non verbal form of communication here where inflection and body language can't be observed, not to mention the obvious language barriers. So before people fly off the handle and start being deliberately rude, maybe we could act like adults and sit back and think about what was said for a minute before jumping to conclusions!

Now all that being said, Author I apologize if I offended you in any way, that certainly was not my intent. When I see a tense situation I try and insert humor as a way to lighten things up, obviously you misunderstood that. But next time ask first, before you throw up your defenses, then situations like this can easily be avoided.

Wow Author, thank you ever so much for really driving my point home! For your information, I was just trying to joke around with you. I could tell you were getting upset and I was trying to make light of the situation. If these are the least constructive comments you ever get then consider yourself very lucky!

If you would prefer criticism to playful banter then here you go.

The cards aren't in focus, the black of the pips and of the chips is too washed out, but because you chose the background that you did there is no way to increase the black levels to an acceptable range without losing the definition of the chip edges, and there is too much empty space to the right of the cards, you should have added more so that it looked intentional or cropped it tighter so that it doesn't look so sloppy.

Yeah it happened on one of my "Expecting " entries, it annoyed the crap out of me too! I probably tried to load it 15 different times but with no luck

Looks right to me! The only thing I'd say is wrong (and I don't think really matters, but if I don't say it someone else will) is the woman's hair style, it's a bit too modern in my opinion, but I might be wrong.

No, no Author you've got it all wrong! This is a site where you post photos so that we can dissect them and find new things to fight like adolescents over Actually I just thought of something, Lamantine is one of the few actual adolescents on here, yet he never joins in on our ridiculous quibbles, hmmm.....

I'm not sure if this qualifies as film noir or not (although I'm sure kyricom or Ade will let us know ) But it's a damn fine photo that's for sure!

No, this is a lesson in sarcasm and light fun.

I had this happen to me before as well, I tried everything I could but it would not load in the right direction.

Is the British version of math spelled with an S?

Awesome colors here, I would say it would make a perfect sunset shot if it weren't for the power lines in the shot, but that's kinda the point isn't it

Yes they certainly have the potential to cause some pretty serious damage, if it was in a tank it was probably fed enough so it wouldn't be to aggressive but still, I would be nervous being in there with them.

Hallelujah! We finally got one

Ok I didn't want to do this because now I will officially be one of the biggest dorks on here but...

The barracuda species native to the Mediterranean is the "Sphyraena barracuda" It has a more elongated snout than the fish shown here, also some major differences are;

*The pectoral fins of the barracuda are more triangular shaped
*The anal fin of the barracuda is less streamlined
*The scale pattern. Barracuda have a thin silver lateral line, this fish has a wide dark line
* But the major difference between these two fish is the dorsal fin.
The barracuda has no dorsal, only a small "rear" or "soft" dorsal, if you look closely at the high res you'll see that the dorsal of this fish starts at the head and continues down the entire length of the fish.

It is hard to tell the exact species from this shot, but I am certain that this is a fish from the Channidae family. I am about 90% sure that this is an adolescent Channa micropeltes that has not changed completely to it's adult color pattern.

http://forums.waterwolves.com/uploads/post-6743-1213197861.jpg

this is the best example that I could find but this one is younger that the one in question.

Ok bring on the teasing I'm ready for it

Author, this is what I hate. On the the one hand this is a superb photo and I wanted to vote high for that reason, but on the other I don't feel it's on theme and that frustrates me to no end. I don't mean to single you out because you certainly are not the only entry that I feel is off theme. So weather it gets pulled or stays, wins or loses I do wish you the best of luck.

Oh joy the artistic freedom line again! I love that all encompassing phrase. You say "artistic freedom", I hear "I'm full of crap and don't have a good argument". This is an absolutely gorgeous shot, it is well done to say the least but it has absolutely nothing to do with the theme!

Those aren't barracuda Ade

Wait, are you under the assumption that either of you has a great mind Steve? Oh sorry...
I meant to say, great shot Author, well thought out!

Very nice mood but could we get a hi-res pretty please

You were actually in the aquarium with these things! Your nuts!