Outdated technology

I really love the simplicity of this image. It is simple in colour, in its subject matter, in its lines. There's lots of good repetition happening. Subtler vertical lines are lined with rivets, and the stronger lines of the dividers really make the image pop. At the centre, the phone again has a few great lines, both vertical and horizontal - everything is at right angles, strong and solid, and then we have the phone's handset itself, slightly askew as it hangs. Add then the slinky, curvy lie of the cord which is juxtaposed against all the surrounding strong and straight lines.

Soft, even lighting creates an atmospheric aura to the photograph.

While this may not seem like an obvious choice for a top tier photo, something about it has captured my attention over and over.

In its subject and its technical execution, the photograph feels wild and rambunctious. Fast and furious, blurry and light, I can feel this lightweight, loosely assembled airplane bouncing down an open field.

The pilots simple head sticks up, with his goggled eyes fixed forward in an erector set-like frame of an old plane.

The colours are muted, and there's a little bit of grain in the image, but with power and direction. The photo has initiative and adventure.

Something about this image is so perfect to being wonderful, but it is lacking a certain 'something' that is holding it back. I love the patterns of the bricks, and the documentary nature of the scene. It suffers most from the man in the background in the white shirt who is too distracting here. His white shirt is amongst the most 'plain' and simple parts of the image, which otherwise is filled with intricate patterns and tones and textures.

The blurred movement of the hands is also too distracting for me here. Instead of adding a feeling of action to the photograph, as you might expect, the blur rather becomes a negative focal point in an image which otherwise feels crisp and clean.

Initially, I loved this photo. I wanted it to be more 'real' - or as real as I initially perceived it to be. Interesting perspective, strong, dominating. But upon seeing it was shot in a museum, not out on the rails, and that it had had a motion filter applied to create the sense of motion on the sides and that the smoke had been added, it just didn't work for me anymore. Too much manipulation and not enough reality for me.

The photograph has interested me, and continued to bring me back to it again and again as a large scale, wide view still life.

The attention to focus and depth-of-field are noticeable. The editing has been done to just the right amount to bring out the lines and contrast in the metal, the weight of the hinges and the strength and simplicity of it all.

What I wish was present is some kind of story - some kind of personality and human element to the photograph.

I really want this photo to work better for me than it does. The subject, the craft is fabulous. It's bright, there is even lighting, and tons and tons of lines.

But the image doesn't feel 'thought out' enough for me. The half standing man on the left is distracting. I need to either see more of him, or to not have him there at all. The nose and forehead of the one man on the right is also distracting, along with the second man on the right who is a too obscured to be active in the photograph.

This is a really fascinating photograph - and one that I have gone back and forth with. The point of view from inside the car is fabulous - I love the framing of it and how it divides the scene up into sections, each with its own beautiful characteristics. The men sitting alone on the right side of the image are fantastic. A great photograph in and of itself.

The photograph fails for me in that it has that unreal feel that comes with the use (and particularly overuse) of HDR software. It is overdone here and really kills the beauty of the photograph for me.

Sharp, powerful in its tone and texture, this photograph really works for me. The engine is worn, has history, has a story, much like the two men here. They too look at home and in their place with the engine. They look as if they are strong, powerful, have a history with the engine and with the railroad, one that is inextricably tied to who they are.

Their gaze leads us across and out of the photograph, and leaves us wondering what is ahead, down the line, and what they see and have seen.

An old world image. The three workers create a nice balance to the image, drawing our eye to the centre, and the central figure's reflection really creates a beautiful shape in the centre of the photograph which balances everything quite well.

The workers are almost statuesque here, strong, stoic figures, with ancient tools. We get some nice textures in the soil, the salt, the baskets, and the water's reflection.

There are muted colours, again, contributing to the 'old world' feel – and strong lines through the centre of the image in the horizon, broken up with the angles of the more vertical lines from the tools.

There's a lot about this photograph I love: beautiful light, I like how the fence leads us into the image on the left. But the more I look at this, the more it has come to bother me that we are behind the windmill.

The right side of the image is a little bit messy, and it seems if we were in the front of the windmill that might help to clean up the image and simplify everything.

I love the similarities in the V shape of the birds and the arms of the windmill.

This is a beautiful image – great colour and the circular lines are captivating. The blues at the top and oranges to the bottom, and the well-lit central part of the fence and haystack are wonderful. What isn't working to perfection here is the lower third of the image.

It feels off centre in a way that is unformed, imperfect in a way that is just too different from the pattern and centricity of the stars.

The bottom third here is just too dark. Had there been some other ambient light, or a more diffused, even soft lighting on the ground, it would work better for me. The bottom light feels a bit too 'flashy' and harsh for the smoothness of the galaxy.

Unique in its simplicity – a macro shot of a record. There's not enough of 'story' being told here for my taste, but an engaging photograph nonetheless.

I like its sharpness, and repetition of lines. It's not an award winner, but an engaging photograph. I like how in its simplicity, it is able to evoke some questions. It's so sharp you can see the grooves – what music are we looking at? It has an element to space to it as well. This photo could almost be a NASA photo of Saturn's rings of dust.

This photograph has a lot going for it. Most of all, I like that we have a tried a true subject, one that is cliche – the classic red telephone booth, but what an interesting perspective on it!

The wide lens gives some very interesting distortion – again, something that is not typically sought out, and is often rather maligned in photography. But here, playing with the perspective, the distortion really shakes up the stodgy nature of the subject and give us lots to look at. Good colour, good lines, and repetition of shapes.

The balance of light and dark here is beautiful. The bright, over exposed sun spot and a bit of flare, the dark shirts, amongst the bright white clothes. But I would like this image to have slightly better tones, maybe a bit more contrast.

What I feel this is lacking is a different perspective to really set of the long, straight angles of the poles. A wider lens, deeper into the scene would have worked better here to see the angles of the poles, and lines, and thus better juxtapose that against the soft, flowing nature of the clothes.