Would have been nice if the person down the hall was in focus, but I can imagine how difficult that would have been....

I love the feeling of this photo!! its the type of conversation piece I would blow up large and have framed in the living room. I agree with "beamer" this would have been REALLY fantastic if the person at the end was still in focus, and the floor leading to them.

Very cool shot, nice idea but I think having a closer and clearer person would have helped this image.

Love it, love it, love it! And while having the person in focus could add an interest point to the photo, I actually like it as it is. Slightly artistic and a little abstract.

I think having the person in focus might be a matter of personal taste, because it certainly wouldn't have occurred to me.

I'd turn it into a poster just as it is. Stunning.

It has an amazing sense of movement. The framing is perfect for the depth of the hallway and to give the sense of scale with the person. I think it's excellent the way it is.

Wow! Perfect timing, light, expression, sense of motion & excitement. The glow of the eyes & smile through the hair really convey the fun & thrill of the ride. I love it!

I don't know who was having more fun either Mark,
but I do know that JOY is contagious!

Very good, one of the best portraits I have seen recently.

This photo continues to bring a smile to my face, what a wonderful moment to capture. The perfect feature, congratulations!

What astounds me is the perfect focus and lack of any motion blur on what I assume was a fast moving target. You must have a wonderfully wide aperture on your lens to allow such a fast shutter speed.

Simply gorgeous.

Thanks to all for the very kind comments. I'm happy that I've been able to convey through this image the joy the two girls were having that moment on the Scrambler ride. My goal with most of my candid street shots is an attempt to convey what I think the person was feeling at the time.

Kimberly, I normally don't offer EXIF data for my shots, but here's how it was taken:

Camera Model Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Shooting Date/Time 8/10/2007 6:48:14 PM
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/320
Av( Aperture Value ) 3.2
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 250
Lens EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
Focal Length 200.0 mm

I waited for their car to hit the apex of the outermost part of the arc of their car, just before it began to move in the opposite way. To grab a shot while they were moving at full speed would have been really difficult. I tried to stand where the light would be effective on their faces and took this shot.

Breathtaking!

Good picture... I like the crisp edges.

Beautiful colors, I wish though that the peak of the building broke the horizon just a bit more. The sky looks a bit disconnected.

I adore this the colors the comp the whole concept !!!beautiful!

This photo is beautiful, reminds me so much of buildings I've seen around here in Ireland.

The only suggestion I can make is in my opinion, the roof meeting the skyline is a little distracting, perhaps it's because the peak of the building is not a straight line?

Not sure if you can re-shoot the photo, but one thought is to lower the camera and shoot the building from closer to the ground? That way a bit of the grass might add foreground texture, and the peak of the building would rise a bit above the skyline.

I also love the transition of colours in the setting... bright green to sea blue to sky blue... lovely.

What beautiful colours......I like the different shades and find they are well blended.

Really nice textures here, but nothing more. It needs some center of attention, some movement or something where eye should travel in the end.

I guess it is still a beautiful photo, with great tones and an unusual street-level angle. The defocused wall gives profundity to the composition, while the bricks in the front catch the attention with their perfect definition. A shot as simple as that, and yet a great one. Congrats!
Alex

Firstly, I have to say I love love love this photo, the textures and colours are gorgeous. Oddly however, I strangely found myself agreeing with the first comment. I found my eye sort of wandering back and forth aross it, looking for something to focus or rest on, as ifthere was something I couldn't see. I think it could benefit from the addition of a subject. If your intention was to make the bricks the subject, then they might beneift from filling the frame a bit more.

Or perhaps change the camera angle slightly to bring that little tiny tree a bit more into prominence, that would at least give the eye something to go to, and then can take in the rest of the scene.

thanks :):)

Really nice texture and colours, like the combination of that blue wall and red bricks. I would try to exclude the white wall from the picture to make it a bit more abstract. But I also like it as it is.

love it, love it, love it. Particularly the depth of field. I'd love to have that plastered above my desk.

That light is amazing! and it matches the light coming across the wall, pulling your eye all the way around the photo. Beautiful.

I agree with Beamer. While there is nothing that says a portrait has to be flattering, this one heads in the opposite direction immediately.

Hmm, what makes him looks so poorly groomed? I can't really figure it out. Why does it feel so negative to you guys?

This guy is really goofy, and I thought he was eating the sandwich pretty goofily. When I took the photo I was hoping it would just be a funny snapshot of him. I was not really planning to portray any kind of message. But obviously there's a negative vibe coming from this image, and I don't want this to happen again if not planned.

I unfortunately have to agree that the portrait doesn't really communicate anything. I think the negative comes purely from the moment of capture. He may be a very funny guy, but unfortuantely, at the moment you took the photo, there was nothing going on in his face, so he just has the appearance of being blank.

Perhaps it's because so much of his face is obscured by the sandwhich so the only thing left in the photo to communicate are his eyes, and his hands. His hands are simply holding a sandwhich, while his eyes look as though he's holding no thought, maybe because of the downcast angle?

Even with less hue, saturation and moreligth improvement to add a more normal skin tone
wich help this photo even added cropping.
i still just see great focus on eyes.
And eyes doesnt reflect goofy.
Well as many time i do with my photo click delete
and enjoy new experience.
Perseverance is the best road to success.
keep on the good work and be less emotional about your subject what you see in your objective
is not allways what appear a fraction of second after on a photo.

Thanks for your input. I don't really think I was trying to portray anything with the photo but I can see now I've mad a few mistakes which communicate a negative tone.

As for the skin tone, I have a slight colorblindness which is probably responsible for what you're seeing. To me it looks like a perfectly normal skin-tone. Unfortunately this is a disadvantage I can't ever overcome and it will always effect my color photography.

Thanks again for the input everyone.

I like the story this photo tells. I also like the patterns on the floor made by the tile and chair legs. The clothing on the woman is too washed out for my taste, and given the strong directional light perhaps less contrast would have been necessary to keep the whites from losing detail.

thx for your constructive comment Aloha.. I appreciate it al lot!!
and you're right.. the clothing is to washed away, I've lost a lot of details during processing.. I'm gonna try to fix it with the brush tool..

Cheers

I don't know, I kind like the effect, to brings your eye straight towards her and she almost appears to be glowing, like the light of her faith.