OK, I need help with this one.  I usually am very sure on my photos, but this one has me going back and forth.  I love the composition, but being underwater, I am bothered by the washed-out colors and lack of crispness.  Any comments would be appreciated. 

(I've reduced the size and DPI for easy internet loading--I have a much larger file should I decide to print it out and hang it.)

Hi Bonobo. Using Aperture I tried to remove all but a hint of color, toned down the white on the hind legs, and sharpened it a bit. The end result isn't too different from yours. You may have a spot on your mirror - Notice the circle right above the bear's head. Also there are dirt spots that need cleaning above the bear's back right in the bubbles. You probably will want to remove these spots. What are all the white spots on the bottom of the picture ? I think that they are distracting.

Just curious - what editing program are you using ?

Rules are I can't say this - but I'll say it any way. NICE PICTURE !

Where did you take that picture? Snorkeling off the coast of Kho Samui?

Hi Bonobo. Using Aperture I tried to remove all but a hint of color, toned down the white on the hind legs, and sharpened it a bit. The end result isn't too different from yours. You may have a spot on your mirror - Notice the circle right above the bear's head. Also there are dirt spots that need cleaning above the bear's back right in the bubbles. You probably will want to remove these spots. What are all the white spots on the bottom of the picture ? I think that they are distracting.

Just curious - what editing program are you using ?

Rules are I can't say this - but I'll say it any way. NICE PICTURE !

I like yours better than mine!

The white spots were things floating in the water.  And the dirt was the glass in front of the bear.  I am now tending to want to hang this in my home here.  I have a few nudes hung (one which did very well in a large photo contest), one landscape, and one goofy photo of two friends and me posing shirtless in the snow, so this and a meerkat photo I really like would bring a little more variety to my Thai home.

If you have a high DPI version of what you just did, I would love to get that.  And yes, I would need to take out the circle and probably the white spots as well.  They were there, but as you say, they are distracting.  I can take them out with Photoshop.

Where did you take that picture? Snorkeling off the coast of Kho Samui?

Ah, obviously you don't know your bears that well.  The Kho Samui polar bear has a shorter nose and larger ears.  This is quite obviously a PiPi polar bear of the Phuket subpecies.

OK, I need help with this one. I usually am very sure on my photos, but this one has me going back and forth. I love the composition, but being underwater, I am bothered by the washed-out colors and lack of crispness. Any comments would be appreciated.

For me, it's "just a picture". If it were mine, I'd keep it, perhaps as an informational photo. I don't see anything artistic, however. Sorry.