Hi Roz, i just saw your post on my homepage as i logged on, i am not a judge or a really great photographer , but i have 1 image in the Fine art of photography group ( loads of rejections as well ). ok so this i only my opinion of THIS image. i just read your profile & checked out the first 15 or so pages of your art ,to get an idea of what you do. here goes.
I have your photo in a separate window & i am veiwing it a large as it will go

the Overall view of the image .
the image is a bit busy, with Very strong highlight areas , which draw the eye , this makes the image difficult to View & is a distraction.
the Tree has an unnatural Blue colour to it, & there is significant ‘blocking out’ at the base of the tree ( black with No Detail ).
Child to the Bottom Right, Very odd colouring to Skin & orange /pink top.

My first Q is. Did You Calibrate the colour profile of your monitor ? that can be a major factor in cases like this. If you have never done it , you should, if you have not done it for a while, its time to do it now, then do it monthly. i use a ’ ColourVision’ Spyder pro 2’ but there are other makes & models available.
Also the tree ( or the positioning of the tree) does not do the composition any favours.
it’s Big, Bold & it pokes out of the top of the image. in many ways it IS the picture.
But i think the Children should be.
Because of this a lot of the ‘message’ in the photo has been lost.
less tree – More kiddies faces if the foreground ( beaming or just being togother ) .
maybe taken from a Much LOWER angle ( kiddy height ?) without the tree taking up so much of the view ( just my opinion).

As a photograph for this group, it does not really meet the ‘art ’ criteria.
I am often told ( by pro photographers ) if anybody could stand there and take that shot thn its probably not worth taking. ok so thats a bit harsh, but as i look at the image, all i see is Highlights, green, grass & a big oddly coloured tree trunk ? so where is the ‘fine art’ aspect to this photo ?. It is difficult to please the Judges of this group, & rightly so, it keeps everybody on thier toes. Each image only has a limited period in the group as well, that makes it even worse ?.

Hope yor still reading , & your not too grumpy, i looked at your other work & it is Really Great , especially your drawings / Sketches. How i wish i could draw even Half as well as you do, but its never going to happen for me, i just cant do it, no matter how hard i try.
Some of those sunset photos are just awesome, but i have to say there does appear to be overworking on colour , (Hue/ Saturation) & Global over Sharpening.
could be the monitor, could also be technique.
If & i do mean if. if you use photoshop Elements, CS2 or CS3 i can help if you want me to.
if on the other hand you already hate me…..........oops Sorry

Get your own back & critique any of or all of my images, tell me like it is

cheers ( lightmonger ) Neil

Hi Roz,
just a quick reply, I persisted with submissions to TFAoP group for 4 months before i got one in, then i just another one in last week, and i (fairly egolessly) reckon my works pretty good,
don’t be disheartened, patience is good for looking harder at what ‘we’ do, as artists.
best wishes
tim