The Bridge to the Eastern Shore
by Bear_Music

Comment:
Lovely wood grain!

Kind hearts are the gardens...
by gyaban

Comment:
I for one would love to understand a bit better how you were able to 'shop your wife's proportions to look like a little girl. That's some seriously l337 ski11z!

Triplets
by gg3rd

Comment:
I think what I like most about this is the curve at the top. It almost makes it feel like a wave of hair. Strange effect.

Lady With A Pearl Earring (An Interpretation of a Classic Painting)
by JunieMoon

Comment:
Let me start out by saying that I'd probably have given this an 8 or a 9. I'm a sucker for the painting and I quite like this particular one.

Yes, the focus was indeed the issue here, but the star of the show is the lighting. Beautifully lit. Really nicely done there. Your pose is brilliant as well. So on the photography level, you've nailed it 100%. The problems come in in your PP choices.

I looked a bit closer at the original painting and a few things that I noticed in comparing:
painting has more of a 'grainy' feel
painting also has a bit of craqueling
painting has more of a 'posterization' look
painting is indeed more contrasty in the face (especially in the eyes, which almost look like Vermeer over-used the 'dodge' tool), but is not 'sharp'.

So it seems like the soft focus was an attempt to replicate those ideas.

If there had been some grain added, a very subtle amount of craqueling and posterization feel underneath the soft focus layer and a small amount of contrast boost in the eyes, I feel that this would have come together a bit better.

Another thing that I don't like is the black. It's common in photos to have pure blacks. But it's not common at all in painting to have pure blacks. In Vermeer's, his background is a dark brownish and serves to increase the "pop" of the blue headband just a bit. Your headband is red, so it wouldn't pop as well off a dark brownish, but I don't think it's necessary. This picture doesn't necessarily need to be MORE contrasty than the original, especially given the context of an older subject.

Since these are PP issues, I believe it could still be accomplished! Remastering this could be a nice way to get back into things in your first year back! :)

My New Puppy.... Ginger
by Sunniee

Comment:
WOAH that is so cute!!!

Fear Of The Dark - Iron Maiden
by jomari

Comment:
Holy Sh8 this thing is scary!

Looking closer, I really like how the cloth covering seems to blend from the lowest person to the older, suggesting that the garment itself is one whole piece and that the spectres behind are emerging from her fears into reality. Also, that 'second' spectre's eyes aren't looking quite straight and that's just creepy as hell.

yeesh.

I usually end up doing my challenge entry work late at night, so the idea of shooting and editing this in the wee hours gives me the willies!!!

What I don't like is the ugly transitions to black all along the top edge (compare to the soft grained transitions to black in the hair on the middle left). Everything else is spot on.

The Immortal Bride
by jomari

Comment:
Excellent! I can't see the detail of the writing on the gravestone, but it certainly shows its age. I think the most important thing in this for me is that the grave cover seems to have been damaged.

Being as the Corpse Bride is one of my favorites of all times, my imagination had all kinds of fun with this little 800 pixel wide story.

She's a Good Dog, But She Won't Sit.
by jomari

Comment:
Well spotted and well played!

Filmed floral with pink plastic
by sfalice

Comment:
It's obviously not intended as a finished masterpiece, but regardless, I enjoyed this.

Message edited by author 2012-06-15 11:58:36.

wildflower-white.
by sfalice

Comment:
Nice work on the texture. Not too happy about the loss of the top of the flower to the border.

Interesting to see your B&W folder and see your progress...

Still, even though it's older, I think it shows a lot of promise!