Thank you to everyone that participated in the "Weather" assignment. There were several very, very good images submitted for this assignment.
Congratulations to Ellen (jecc) whose
Last Leaf image won the vote for
People's Choice. 
Last Leaf
I liked this image, but what drew me into the image were the sharply defined ice crystals on the branch leading up to the leaf. The out-of-focus branches on the left side of the image were a bit distracting, and I thought the image could have been stronger with a crop like this:
Last Leaf (cropped)
(Note that this crop also placed the leaf in a strong position in the frame using a "rule of thirds" composition, i.e., placing the leaf at the intersection of lines dividing the image in thirds; and emphasized what I felt was a pleasing curve in the branch leading to the leaf.)
I've awarded
Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit to Becky Jenner's
Early Morning Halo image. This image was successful at evoking a mood and memories of cold, serene winter mornings in the past.
Early Morning Halo
Since the "halo" was a central element in the image, I emphasized the halo a bit more in the version of the image below. I added a second layer in Photoshop, used the "shadows and highlights" adjustment to bump up midtone contrast, added a layer mask set to "hide all" and then erased through the portions of the mask covering the halo, and then used the "opacity" slider on the layers palette to tone down the adjustment on the top (contrasty) layer. The change is subtle; however, I felt it enhanced the halo without degrading other aspects of the image.
Early Morning Halo (contrast enhanced)
I've awarded
Editor's Choice for Technical Merit to Nick Debarmore's
Approaching Storm image. Nick's High Dynamic Range (HDR) combination of four images resulted in a dramatic scene of an "ominous" thunderstorm approaching the Air Force Academy.
Approaching Storm
Thank you again to everyone that braved the cold and rain to participate in the assignment.
Keith
