The Road Less Travelled

Proof that not all images in this category need to signal gloom or rugged remoteness, this image's success is in its abstraction and subtle colour palette. I love the symmetry and the bold hues and I love the clear bisection - not of just the road but also the farmed/ploughed (?) fields. This looks almost alien and all the better for that.

There's something deeply threatening about this image - a fairy-tale quality that's quite disturbing. It's nicely created - the off-centre tree at the front leads us into the misty waters and makes us look for an opening in the mire. I like very much how the light fades upwards with only a brighter ripple in the middle-ground to guide us through the image. Nicely done.

It's the simplicity of this image that makes it stand out. A well seen and well captured frame that depends not just on the gorgeous curve off the road, nor the gloomy and leaden sky but the light on the tarmac rendered as a high tone which I presume might have been that moment when some light breaks through the clouds. Lovely. Mysterious and somehow uplifting.

A lovely and brave composition that is reminiscent of so many 'soot and snow' landscapes from the 1970s and 1980s. I like the processing and I like the figure (even though it looks like he might have three legs...) but I wonder whether slightly less formless beach might have made another engaging element to compliment the harsh treatment... just a thought because this is still a strong frame.

Although this is not a particularly 'difficult' image to read, it's very accomplished. Clearly the lines of the frame take us down the road with the partially obscured tree as a welcome visual guide - but what is commendable is that it's taken in such horrid weather and to get images like this we must remind ourselves to go out and find them! Well done.

Although this isn't a perfect frame in terms of exposure, I think it has bags of energy and feeling. Firstly, the child is caught in a lovely shape and the image seems to swirl around him. That said, all eyes inevitably lead to the gap between the mountains and here, the issue of exposure becomes more problematic. I always tell people to keep general exposures in mind and constantly be adjusting the camera for when moments like this occur. The exposure for the detail in the sky is perhaps only a stop away but that is what separates this good image from a great one. That said, this is a lovely moment - well done.;

A very literal (but entirely unproblematic) interpretation of theme which guides us through the tunnel at the same level as the runner. A fortuitous colour conflict - orange and yellow) that breaks the almost monochrome monotony of the frame. A very strong effort that speaks to movement speed. Excellent.

There's a lovely texture to this image and a moment - sunrise - that's engagingly captured for us to see... but what elevates a snap from a good photograph is both timing and composition. Here, I'm intrigued by the inclusion of a temporary road sign albeit within shadow but there nevertheless. I love the tree and the hedgerow but because the sign is so central, I'm afraid that it distracts from what otherwise would have a been a much stronger frame. Still, well done for seeing.

Exposure. Exposure. Exposure. This image has lovely form that compliments the graceful curve of the dunes - but because the sky is way too bright, the focus is not on the lovely coloured sand but on the quadrant of the frame that is brightest. A real shame because an accurate exposure would have seen a more of an even tone - even if that meant the red of the dune being darker. Nearly.

I do like this but I think that the hues of the trees allied to the complimentary colours in the background are a little problematic because they do not sufficiently separate the foreground and the background. I'm left with a sense that the representation is a simple, single dimensional plane, albeit with some interesting trunk detail. I think that we can choose the angle here (lower?) to make the tree more impactful - but also control the exposure better so that the highlights of the sky aren't blown (hence the burning-in of cloud detail between the branches).

I really do like this: the shapes and the exposure are nice - but it feels a little un-composed. Let me try and explain. What separates a good photograph from a snapshot is composition and forethought. What I see here is a vantage point that is crying out for order. I can see the 'peak' of the dune pointing from the centre-right of the frame upwards but what's it pointing to? Although this is good it feels a bit like you're trying to get everything in the frame rather than relaxing into the experience and taking what you think is important in it. That said, the is not a bad effort per se.

A lovely frame. I really like the fence that bisects the frame and of course, the image is 'made' by the dramatic lighting / ominous cloud formation above. I suppose if I were being picky, I'd have perhaps preferred the horse in profile and perhaps with a bit more space behind him - but this works and was well seen.

This is a really nice frame potentially but I'm wondering what the figure actually gives to it. Clearly this wasn't shot for this competition but the shape, composition and 'feel' of the image might have been better sans the walker. I think it's worth counter-intuitively thinking about what not to include in a frame sometimes - and trying both versions and sitting with them over time to see what works best.

An extraordinary eerie and troubling image - and all the better for that. This isn't a classic landscape image rather what might be called an intervention. I love how the road is illuminated by the photographers own hand and recorded in a specific way to fit a narrative. Exposure wise this works perfectly and we're led compositionally directly down a rather daunting land. Excellent work.

Very nice. Although I can see that there's been a fair bit of work to the image to push the highlights - and it was shot on an iPhone - this works. I love the placing of the swimmer and I love the lines of the water streaming out against his body. Mostly I like the interpretation of the theme: an interesting take on roads less travelled.

I think sometimes successful photographs suggest rather than tell all. This is good example of that. We don't need to see what is further down the road to know necessarily that it looks threatening or potentially worrying. The curve of the road is just enough to give a sense of foreboding and the curtains of mist act as a barrier to our curiosity to see beyond. Lovely.

An exquisite use of line and shape here. I particularly love how the photographer has used a 'vertical' line above a horizontal one and subverted the usual vista of the sweep of a dune. Allied to a slowish shutter to capture the sand/wind drift and an exposure that takes full advantage of the pastel colours, this is a lovely romantic effort.