Good eyes to catch this scene! You do have some "hot" spots of blow out on the sand and the dof could be sharper, however, that is about artistic license and I bow to yours. I like the natural feel in colour palette. It is a happy snappy photograph and you did well to see and capture it. It is always a good idea to shoot underexpose as details can be brought out in post processing, or you could bracket and shoot 3 and pick the best exposed photograph.

I really appreciate the description you have given to further flush out the story, so thank you very much. A nicely framed image, framed by the same rocks / bricks that one can see beyond and this gives a wonderful homogenous feel to your upload. Technically your dof is perfect rendering sharpness throughout the planes of the photograph. The lead lines further pull us into the shot and your colour palette is natural. You have shown this well enough to make me want to go there. Thank you again for educating me further.

Nice circular frame, framing the scene beyond which shows a collection of buildings, ships. A part of me wonders how this would have looked in monochrome, have you considered this? Nice and clear is this shot but somehow it is missing an OH WOW focal point. The beauty however, is in the solid presentation and technical saviness of photographer.

WOW, what an imagination you have. Blew me away and thank you for that

Top Notch!

Good going there photonut.

This is eye popping work. Not only are his tatoos great to look at but your post processing further punches out the tats. When I see tats like this I fast forward to when he is 70 and his skin is sagging, what an abstract that will make. Very nice work and a pleasure to review.

You are succeeding. Thanks again.

HOLY GUACAMOLE the visual impact this has on the viewer is phenomenal. We are glued to your work. Mysterious, fantasmagorical, perfect. Top notch in my books.

This is really through the roof, mind blowing wonderful. I studied your SBS and could actually learn something! You have a great skill and the final product is superb. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

Love the lines and the symmetry. WOW this was a lot of work and I looked up your sources. You worked from many and managed to create this ingenuous piece. KUDOS is all I can say.

How did you manage to scrunch this up like this? Liquefy filter and pucker? I like the simplicity of this presentation it follows the KISS principle and I'm a sucker for KISS.

Great imagination and creative piece.

This looks like a lot of work and there is a professional quality evident. Thank you for those SBS and clear explanations as well it is a great way for peons (like me) to learn new techniques. This is a very appealing image in dark hues of earth colours for it creates mystery.

WOW howdyoudodat? Which filters did you use? I really think you did a great job. Thank you for sharing this one.

Nice one but it feels overcooked a tad.

This is how I feel at the moment so your photograph resonated with me on an emotional level and technically, well, it is perfect.

Nice out of the box thinking.

Can you hear me laughing? This is so......oh so........corny that it is hysterical. How did you change her to pink? Selective colour tool? Thank you also for your SBS. Wonderful work.

Good grief, this is good. It looks like you really know what you are doing and your sbs is fantabulous. Thank you so much for being here....and teaching.

Well done and imaginative. I cannot see any marginal lines, everything blends well. Wonderful, just wonderful.

Holy Guacamole.....You have even put in shadow effect. This is super professional work (to my eyes). Really well done.

Just wonderful. I love these contests which I can't seem to do but I get inspired by your posts.

You have everything right about this self portrait. First of all it has tremendous visual impact and that is stemming from the technical elements which are well handled from the sharpness, to light source, to tonal ranges are all there. You also have post processed this perfectly leaving a smoky feel and that marries well with your title. Your POV is what really makes this strong, by pointing your camera up the looking "up to you" for the viewer gives this image a noble feel compound that with your eyes gazing beyond is pure magic. The grunge on your face speaks of your job as does the helmet. This is a very powerful photograph and you are lucky to have been born with great genes. Top marks to you.

That is good to know that term, mysophobia as many have fear of germs. You have shown a brilliant photograph of someone who most likely has OCD on top of mysophobia. This image is full of wonderful story. Technically well done, sharp through and through so much so that we can see you in the reflection. Clarity is very good indeed.

Oh yes, life can be tough! What a heartwarming photograph and it illicits an "awww" from the viewers. I checked this image in high resolution and it is blurry, you need to be sharp on the main focal point , the child. The emotion has been caught at peak making this shot strong.

A very nice macro shot of a rather handsome fellow. The bokeh is perfect not only in blurriness but also the colour palette is exquisite. Those two eyes poking out discombobulate me for there is one big eye looking forward. The image is sharp on the eyes and the detail is nicely seen. Good control of your dof.

My avatar has a photo of me. I'm in the middle of traveling right now and just can't get my head around taking a photo of me.

I love the story of this image and it is nice to meet you and your daughter as well. She is a free and spontaneous soul but you are her anchor. The image is sharp and you probably took it with a point and shoot and kept that heavy gear (around your neck) for shooting your next winning shot for pyxleyes.

Now that is a book I could use! I really like the shadow light play and your eyes are sharp. The diagonal of the blinds playing on the canvas truly makes for a remarkable photograph. Excellent.

The play of light is excellent, a grand chiaroscuro effect. Sharp and full of mystery and exotica. Nice to meet you face to face. I consider this to be pure photographic art....worthy of framing.

Congrats to you.

chirp chirp chirp Congrats to you.

Yes, you mean TOS, right? Not here, not yet he he he he he.

I learn from you, I'm so glad you are here.

I know how you feel. I am new to this aspect of the site. You did a great job for a first entry and the colour palette is wonderful and warm. I looked for any marginal error and couldn't find a thing. Welcome ....The moderator Spaceranger has helped me so much so if you have questions send them to him
This is a great place to learn....

GASP, good grief this is well done. I love it, thank you for being here and inspiring me with your creativity.

What a wonderful imagination you have and the work is well done as well!

Be still the beating of my heart. What a sweet photo and your POV makes this shot.

It's nice how on this site we can really see a lot of your photos that we cannot see on TOS. You have a lot of strong images.

On high res this is pin sharp. Nice capture as we want to know more of the story.

Ahh like this compositional style, balanced and easy to view.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one, the title and the photo go together like a hug and a squeeze. Good one.

Yeah, very appropriate title and photo...made me smile.

Heartwarming, melted my heart. Packed with emotive power...kabang!

In high res this is sharp as "a woman's tongue". Tongarirro, loved it. Great shot.

Great creativity. How did you do this?

Love young love It is too bad you have a lot of noise on this. Noise is that grainy feel and is due to low light conditions and a high iso.

Really like this one for the mood and the blue paint out job is really eye catching.

Hi resolution shows this to be nice and sharp. A photo full of mystery.

Could be a good one for man at work too. Nicely done.