Stupid me - there are no penguins in Canada, right? :(((

Thank you all for your comments. This was taken in New Zealand. I'm not sure they're fast enough to avoid a car... But there's not too many vehicles in the area so, I guess they're quite safe.

Terrific! Love the color combination, and the subject. The warm colors contrast with the cold climate normally associated with penguins.

Gotta love these people that post negative comments but never offer anything constructive, and who have been members for several months and never posted anything of their own.

Arne, I'd rather hear you say: " I don't like this composition because...", so I can try to make a better shot next time I go to NZ. :O)

Owen, I notice one of your two first comments here is negative. Of course it's a sign, what do you expect, a dinosaur? Would you like to get this kind of critique on your site: "it's just an "innocuous" old bench in an ugly countryside, the B&W is flat, the picture is totally blur and there's a terrible vignetting...". Would that help?
Maybe there should be a rule on WS, saying that one should have posted a least one (or five, or ten) photos before he can make a (negative) comment.
"to criticize is to put himself in someone else's shoes and try to understand what he wanted to do" . Approximate translation of a quote by Cartier-Bresson (who's this?)

Roberta, I got your message when I was writing mine. You read my thoughts, and I do appreciate that kind of support.
Most of all, I'm aware that 80% of the comments are positive, so thanks again.

You are welcome, Thelma. :O)

Well Phillippe I for one think that you took the great red and yellows, the sign that is just like every other sign (duh) except for the fact that it is amusing, shot at an angle that places the sign (that happens to be flat to the film plane for perfect focus) in a great visual anchor because of the rule of thirds and the junction of the roof lines that despite being from an innocous old building has character too boot! Shame on you. ;^)

Congrats on the feature.

Thanks, Dan. :O)))

Well I'm sorry I didn't get to rate this before it featured. How can you not like a picture with a sign about penguins? I think it's great, and I've been rating pretty critically so far. Nice job philippe.

As for negative commenters, bring it on. After all, people want some input into their stuff. I don't think anyone was overly negative, but I'm not sure why you would be on a photography site for several months and not share any pictures. It smells of hypocrisy.

What do I know though. I comment a lot and get featured.....well, only once. Clearly I should speak less and some other folks should post more.

Thanks, Jack, I appreciate your comment.

;-) made me smile

Kangaroo Island? I loved this little town. Fun photo! Congrats on the feature.

The sign is great. The building is amazing though. I hope you took the opportunity to create several other images from it.

Jarrett: yes, I've made a few pics of this building. Here's one:

http://clairobscur.my-expressions.com/archives/5296_1369943571/129028

Kyla: Kangaroo island is a charming place... in Australia. This is Oamaru, Near Dunedin, New Zealand. You were not so far, actually :O)

Phillippe - I'm very sorry, but I didn't realise that the purpose of commenting was to stroke egos.

I also didn't see a rule that all comments posted were to be positive. I actually said I liked several things about this, including the colours, and the choice of the sign itself, but that in terms of being a photo I would want to look at again, it's not that memorable. There is no depth for my eye to explore as the building right behind the sign dominates the image, and as such there also isn't much else to look at.

If someone doesn't like one of my images then that's fine so long as they can tell me why. If they can offer any constructive suggestions as to how they might have improved it, all the better. Depending on how well they word their opinion and whether I agree or not, I may well take it on board.

All opinions are subjective, and for this reason your quote is somewhat irrelevant. We should all be open to other people's opinions, and we all have to the right to completely ignore them :D

By the way, if the comments about being on a photography site and not sharing any pictures are aimed at me, it's true I've been registered here for ages, but it's also true that the very first time I both posted an image, and commented on someone elses image, was yesterday.

I just never got round to it until then. Happy now?

owen-b,
I'm sorry that you are catching some heat from my friend Philippe, but I'm grateful to you, also, because it takes some pressure off of me. I've been waiting for another whipping boy to take my place. Thank you.

P.S. - inside joke. See
http://www.weeklyshot.org/theme/night/featured/50/

Great shot, Philippe! and thanks for the very perceptive comments on my recent sumission.