We’re back on track with the monthly critiques, and our December session is now live — click on the thumbnail above to view the video.

We saw a lot of great photos this month, and we wish we could write about every one we mention in the video. That said, here are a few of the photos Hudson and I felt deserving of an extra mention this time around:

Tent Building at Night, by DPlockard

This photo jumped out to us as a superlative nighttime reflection shot. The color of the tent building, reflected almost perfectly in the pool, adds a beautiful glow to the overall scene. The edges of the frame have enough detail and light to provide a bit more balance overall, and the tips of the building are nestled inside the frame, as they should be. Hudson noticed immediately that the sign, visible in the facade, is missing in the reflection, which offsets slightly the symmetry of the scene, making it even more powerful. Magnificent work.

We had nearly 80 submissions this month for our Plus Photo Critiques contest, and they were varied in subject and quality. Hudson and I chose 20 photos from the group as worthy of mention, and they’re discussed in the video above. We also picked three photos as the best of the bunch, and, to keep a bit of suspense, they’re announced at the end of the video. Congratulations to the winners, and to all who took part in the contest, and a special thanks to F-Stop for their generous sponsorship this month.

This month’s critiques

September will mark the return of the standard Plus critiques. The gallery will open on September 1 for submissions. One change we are making from this month on: we ask that you upload a single photo to the Plus Critiques gallery. With the volume of submissions each month, it’s easy for photographers to get ‘lost’ in the critiques. And, since we rarely — if ever — showcase multiple photos from members, it makes sense to limit each member to one upload per month.