I like this; the color is subtle but clear, and the transition out from the center is gentle, flowing smoothly "through" the darker ring. I am not at all fond of the highlight/reflection in the center, though, and think it detracts. It's not uniformly shaped, being not quite round and having an extra shape in it that sticks out a bit. I might have tried to clone the whole highlight out myself; the center seems to have enough consistency to use either clone or heal in Photoshop (or something similar) and make it one block. If you want to keep it (it does add some character to the block of color in the center), I would at least make it perfectly round.

Great abstraction, I think the highlight in the center adds to the shot, it gives it an imperfect quality that enhances it.

kind of reminds me of hal 9000 from 2001: a space odyssey

Hi Rob, I actually like the center part if the candle like this. But thanks for the ideas, gives me more to think about.

very nice ! good idea, well executed... breaking the rules, for a purpose: winning combo!

square crop would maybe improve the impact ?

This is **BLUE**. Also love the wide angle, composition and dof, but particularly the splash of yellow flowers in the bottom right - these seem to really balance well with the clouds in the top right. Nicely done all round.

Wonderful photo, great angle, great shot, lovely capture.

My only complaint would be that the subject "blue" specifically states: "Anything "blue" but lets not include water or sky...to make it more difficult!"

Damn! Oh well you win some you lose some...

Don't fret too much about relevance, it's really only one factor. I suspect that MOST people that will rate this have never read the brief. This is gorgeous and will do well.
Don't understand the DoF comments, isn't this shot all in focus, i.e. the whole image is in the "hyperfocal distance" of the lens??? The only area of the image that seems to be even a bit out of focus is the very lower right corner.
Most important: great image, congrats.

This is a wonderful shot, all the way around. Color, cropping, clarity, texture and interest. Calgon, take me away!

Please tell us you have printed and framed this to hang where you may peer at it daily to take you away...

i love this, it's one of my favorite signs for sure. i would crop out the bottom so there isn't that one little piece of the wider post underneath. but really nice shot.

i love this. i like how the focus is on the sun/water. i make a connection between the two as my eyes bounce between them. at first i thought this was a night shot of the moon, but after reading your comment i realized this was taken during the day with the sun. i like the deception. the dark body of water and sky work well with the immense shine of the sun. good job!

I think something is missing in this picture. Maybe a boat, a bird or a tilted framing to bring something more. I like the idea but be careful of your eyes.

The picture seems to be infused with the sun's light (even though it looks like night-time). The rays seem to be in motion.
Quite a unique composition.

Simplicity. love it.

I would make the composition less symmetrical..but nice shot!

If I hadn't have read your explaination of the shot I would have said that the shot is too flat - a real lack of contrast - that said it's a nice idea and It's amazing actually how much detail and colour is there given the conditions, but I can't help feeling that it doesn't really work as a photo for me - there's not really alot compositionally happening ... although I find myself wondering what it would look like as b&w?

What a great exercise! I think the more you experiment with this, the better you'll get. Great start.

Then you'll start painting trees with light, and more... I just found the same world recently Craig (vazaar.com/user:Topher/photos/id:13474/) and might be trying to perfect it at your same rate... I like this pic as the start of something more and appreciate the experimentation. Fun.

I really like the detail and color. I too wonder how it would look in b&w.

The muted aspect gives a rather melancholic feel,
I like it because it has an individual personality and atmosphere...not just another techn. perfect picture...reminds of an old masters painting that hasn't been restored...

I like this alot ..I like the lighting ,it gives a certain mood and the comp too ..well done .

Very nice, love the clouds. I seem to want to see more beach at bottom, feels a little cramped. Overall, just a little flat, I know it's last light, but maybe juice it just a bit more...

I too wish this was juiced up a bit more. If you aren't comfortable with curves, this picture seems like it would be well suited to the shadows/highlights function in Photoshop. Use the advanced controls, punch up the mid tone contrast a little, then play with the tonal range of the shadows and highlights. You should be able to get crisp white caps and ominous clouds.

Nice atmosphere, although a bit dark. I think a panoramic format would have suited well here (by cropping a bit of sky). And be careful, the horizon line is slightly tilting.

An image of Elephants eye in Cape Town just as the sun goes down behind the mountains.

Very nice sunset. I might have show more of the dark clouds on the left. My mind wants to see what the rest of that looks like....

I agree with Beamer. Nice dramatic sky, but my eye tends to draw to the darkness on the left. Either some cropping, or a little dodge to balance out the tones over there could make it better.

I would probably have zoomed in a little more to leave out the dark clouds.

I also wonder if the picture might have been better just a few minutes later with less contrast. Then again the big dark cloud might have moved further into the frame.

Thanks for the comments - the big darl cloud to the left of the image was just that I am afraid, a big dark cloud with no features present in it, which is a shame as it would have added a little more to the image.

Hi Jeff, you may be right - it could be seen as more of waterscape than a mountain shot! Point taken.

Hi Lea, I have had this printed out from a print shop in Cape Town and it came out pretty straight, then again they could have tweaked it with out telling me!

Cheers,
Craig

I agree 100% with Jeff. My thoughts exactly as I first read the image, then read his comments.

I Don't know, but as far as mountains go, this dude is pretty flat. I guess it could still be techincally be caled a mountain, but I am thinking more along the lines of a cliff or bluff or Butte.

I agree with the first post. I love the reflections and the harbor / water, just not so sure about the mountain part.

Really, Table Mountain in Cape Town not a mountain?

I agree with Jeff about the foreground scene.

If you could punch up the clouds a little and warm the mountain to match the buildings, it might hold the photo together a little more.