Gold dust

I'll start by saying that I love this photograph. It moves me and inspires me. Very well done. I normally don't categorize my critiques according to the rating given, but in this case, I think it will be beneficial.

Vision - High marks here. You aren't very blunt about what you are trying to convey with this photograph, but I like that. Adds mystery. I'm sure many people have simply looked at this picture and saw the title and though "huh, that does look like gold dust" and they move on. Gold Dust by Tori Amos is a wonderful song. I won't go into it much, as this is not a critique of that song, but this conveys the spirit and message of that song very well. I'd also like to point out that this image gives me a very distinct sense of delicacy and the fragile nature of sand (or gold dust as it were) slipping out of our hands, again matching the song well.

Originality - I dinged you here quite a bit. Two very simple reasons: This is a picture visually depicting a song. That gets done to death around here. I even do it myself quite a bit. Additionally, the idea of depicting sand slipping through someone's hands as a symbol for time slipping away/not know what we have until after we lose it is also an idea I have seen around DeviantART and in the photography industry in general. Not completely unoriginal, but to give you 5 stars would imply that this was an idea original and unique to you....and I would be lying if I said that.

Technique - Having said that, however, I cannot express well enough how impressed I am at how well you have executed this image. In a lot of ways, it can be harder, from a technical standpoint, to take a picture such as this that has been done elsewhere, and quite well I might add. The simple fact that you have competition speaks volumes. This is undoubtedly the best execution of a picture of this nature I have seen so far. The focus is tack sharp. I have no idea how much you did in Photoshop (if anything), but that is entirely the point. Whatever was done to this image looks very natural and I feel as though I am looking at what this sunset really looked like that day. There are no signs of banding or noise degradation I would expect to see if you had overdone color, tonal contrast or sharpness in Photoshop.

Technique Cont. - Compositionally this is masterfully done. The image is not very balanced and is weighted on the left. A bold move, but pulled off very well. The lighting is awesome. It was a perfect time of day for such a striking use of backlighting. Even though you can see the sun pretty much straight on, I don't feel as though it is overexposed at all, which can be quite tricky. The EXIF info is missing, but the exposure setting for this image were well thought out as well. The depth of field created by the aperture use is spot on. It throws off the background enough to where it is not distracting, but it is sharp enough to at least convey the idea of where this was taken. The horizon is also perfectly level.

Impact - Thought evoking, stunning and insightful. If I were in a crowded gallery full of bunches and bunches of other art, this would, without a doubt, stand out to me. Easy 5 out of 5 stars here.

I've looked through your gallery and this is easily your best work yet. Keep it up. This is absolutely amazing, but I would to see you somehow do even better. <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/b/b…" width="15" height="15" alt="" title=" (Big Grin)"/>