I'm no expert on mono photography either having only done it since I went digital in the last three years but I love the contrasty blacks and whites in this photo. I'm a soot and whitewash enthusiast in black and white prints and this suits my taste just fine. The white rocks in the foreground may be slightly distracting but I love the black lake, or should I say llyn?, in the bottom right. Is it called Llyn Padarn? Those finely sculptured clouds above Tryfan and the Carneddau are pure delight.
david.

You think everything's already been done in photography then you come across a great new idea like this which hits you with the WOW factor. Nice one.
david

Lets not get too downbeat about the delay in Rapala's comments. I'm sure there was a very good reason. Its rare for there to be any hold ups (I was guilty of one myself not so long ago) and the weekly competitions work very well 99% of the time.
A few months ago someone won with an excellent photo but only picked a winner and no runners up in his selected competition. He also failed to do any comments. English wasn't his first language and perhaps he felt unsure about commenting.
It led to some critical comments in the Forum and this guy hasn't been heard of since. Maybe we put him off from coming back, if so this is a shame.
david

But he wasn't away when he won it George. He was here and set the next subject, perhaps he thought he was dreaming.
david

Super picture, one to be proud of,
david

C for me. There is more fine detail in the cliff faces, particularly the cliffs in the far distance. The 3rd picture looks smoother on my monitor than the other two.
To get back to John's original image I think you have some lovely tones in the old stonework which would be worth looking at in a tighter crop.
david

No. 2 for me. I'm with Gwyn, I really like the abstract crop and the colour is superb. Apart from the matter of the crop I totally agree with Martin's remarks on this picture.
david

Today is my anniversary. I've now been a PU member for one year and I'm completely hooked. When I joined I thought I was just signing up for the quartely magazine, just as I did when I was previously a member of the Pentax Club around 1990. I soon discovered The Gallery and submitted pictures but it took me a few weeks to find my way round the rest of the site and it was September before I began entering the weekly competitions and first dipped into The Forum.
Since then I feel I've made many new friends and I've enjoyed the photography.
When I joined there were fewer than 8,000 registered members. Now there are more than 9,000 so PU seems to be going from strength to strength.
I passed another milestone last week when the first of my two K10 bodies zeroed after snapping 10,000 times.
david

What a refreshing debate. George, its not being grumpy to expect higher standards in both photography and the use of language and you have eloquently expressed the views I hold on both these subjects. We should all seek to improve our photography and can only succeed when colleagues offer honest criticism so we can address our previous mistakes.
On the subject of the use of English language I feel irritation at the poor grammar, spelling and punctuation that seems to abound in these forums. At the same time I have nothing but admiration for our many 'foreign' friends who tackle our hotch potch of a langauge so well and I'm happy to make allowances for their occasional slips.
Re your comments on correcting posts: I felt annoyance this week at my inability to return to an earlier posting to carry out corrections. I wrote the comments for the weekly competition Action when I was tired after midnight on Monday morning and when I returned to the site later in the morning I was horrified by my clumsy typing errors. I was even more annoyed to find the system wouldn't allow me to correct the mistakes.
Keep up the grumpiness George, its all in a good cause.
David

These were worth getting a soaking for Ralf. Good job you have a water resistant Pentax. I love the quality of the light in Number One and the fish eye views are dramatic.
david