Icy Chasm
by Strikeslip

Comment:
Nice one... loved the tones/textures you pulled on this, a very interesting place - tho it worries me that you are trying for world domination with squirrels :P

PS. My throat is a bit dry ;)

After The Deluge
by IreneM

Comment:
excellent execution, but it seems a tenuous link to a "Harsh" environment... i think it might be because the shot looks so nice that it looses any sense of harshness, i just see beauty... and the current state of affairs (ie puddle) is a fairly normal environment for a leaf, not a harsh one... still scores well in my book as it is probably (criteria aside) my fav shot in this challenge...

culture clash
by grigrigirl

Comment:
love the connection with the bride in this shot through the eye contact and pose. Conceptually it speaks more of incongruity than harsh environments tho... although you are still in the bounds of my benefit of the doubt as i can see it. (put it this way - i doubt you set this shot up exclusively for the challenge ;P)

Chance of Adoption: Virtually Nil
by MaryO

Comment:
Nice shot compositionally, conceptually and tonally but looses any impact with the loss of detail it seems to suffer from :'( Eyes are the key in this kind of shot as they tell the sadness, without them glaring back at you clear as day the shot suffers...

coal mine
by charliebaker

Comment:
They have lights in a coal mine... so i say you are a liar and didnt actually take this in a coal mine and are misleading us with the title! ;-P good luck, i'm not sure this is something DPC voters like... but it made me smile in recognition of the thought behind it at least :)

Viking Ruins in the Land of Fire and Ice
by giba

Comment:
urm - yeah - vikings had corugated iron and concrete... of course! Bit to tight of a crop considering the second part of your title - i see little if any ofthis land you speak of. Basically i think you were trying to hard with the title and it lost any significance. Nice colours and detail in the shot, but uninspired composition imo...

Being Where Art Gets Hosed...
by 777STAN

Comment:
abstaining on this one, but i will say that the backlighting from the sun is horrendous and you blocked the word "stay"... was that subconscious?

Color Insanity
by androgeus

Comment:
damn - very nice colours. I'm a little pressed to consider the blur created by what i assume is some sort of glass on what is behind it to be the interpretation of the blurry part of the challenge... I think it would still look great pushed completely oof :) But still benefit of the doubt prevails here (difficult challenge to vote i have to say)

Lady in Red
by friartuck

Comment:
"This photo has been validated."

wow... going to have to check back on this one to see how it was done... if it is what i think it is, well done for the effort!

Look! Shiny!
by cjoconn22

Comment:
nice use of blur and a nice shot (might have benefitted from either being totally dead centre or more offset than it already is - the focal point taht is...). However my concern is that it is way to geometric to adhere to the "mess" part of the challenge.