I was wondering what are the criteria, or what are the kinds of things the MODS are looking for when they decide whether an image is to be moved into the permanent gallery or archived. Most of my shots have been archived, which really doesn't bother me all that much, but I thought this one had a decent chance.

If you have a moment, please leave your thoughts...I just wanna know what I could improve upon. Thanks in advance!!

For ME! .. I love locations like this, and I would LOVE to be there .. as for the image, the aspect that I can connect to the most is the greenery, the trees are very emotive, lush, and well exposed

the foreground, on the other hand, leaves a little to be desired on several fronts .. subject, composition, exposure, and interest ... it just misses the mark (for me) and leaves the top half driving the getaway car.

only you know what there is to choose from for other foregrounds .. the trees will, no doubt, be found in other settings

just my "O", of course

Any image that is not moved to the permenant galleries will be automatically archived after a certain period, so the fact that an image is archived doesn't necessarily mean that someone has decided that it should be.

Mmmhh... What's the difference between a good image and a very good one? Not easy to answer...
What I like:
This is a very nice scene and the movement in the water is really interesting.
What I like less:
The contrast is a little high, so you get some burned white areas on the rocks. The rock in foreground is a little bit disturbing.
You know, to choose what is going in the perms is very subjective. When I see images moved in the perms by another mod I'm sometimes astonished... I am sure it is the same thing for them.
That's why we have here different personalities.

"When I see images moved in the perms by another mod I'm sometimes astonished..."

you aren't the only one, Pierre.

Stephen, I'd agree with Keith (keifer) to a certain degree. I'd add that perhaps a wider angle could've really worked well, as the burned highlights would've become part of the overall scene, as opposed to a framing element of the shot itself.

" ... That's why we have here different personalities"
You must read the complete sentence, Rob.

I did, honest. was just echoing a particular sentiment. truth be told, there's a few images of mine in the perms that I never thought would make it, and vice-versa.

Thanks you guys! You've definitely pointed out things that I'm realizing I need to work on. Most of the time, I seem to forget to set up the foreground and only keep the subject and background in mind. And I'm trying to stay away from too much contrast...I like a lot of contrast, but sometimes I get carried away with it. I really appreciate all of your feedback, it's always helpful!!

you could experiment with a little HDR

Faking the HDR thing...... .. by PhilcUK

I've been trying to do a bit of HDR, but I only have Photoshop 7.0, not CS2. I tried the free programs like Photomatix, but they seem to just completely destroy any semblance of photography. Is there any way to do HDR in 7.0, because I would really love to do some experimenting.

You can also try real photography and use graduated neutral density filters;-)