10x10 = 100by
NeuferlandComment by kteach: Greetings from the Critique Club!
First Impression:
I remember voting on this one, and taking a few seconds to figure out how you set it up with the mirror, and then counting all the dots in the rows to make sure there were 10. When I looked at the title, I understood where you were going with it, but felt like I missed something since there were only 8 rows. I realize there aren't enough small number dominoes to do a full 10x10 version, but perhaps a different title might have been better... "Rows of 10" or something? I like the illusion aspect, but technically it suffers a bit.
Composition/Background:
The composition with the stacked dominoes and mirror is nice, I like these kinds of photos that make you stop and think about how it was set up. White background to make a simple black and white photo is very clean, but I wonder what would have happened had you done this on a different color. Might have had a different result with the metering of the light and avoided some of the blown out highlights and areas that were to dark?
Technicals:
I find it difficult to shoot on white and get the whites perfectly white while also keeping the subject well lit. The flash seems a bit harsh, which ends up blowing out the white dots and making the dominoes on the bottom of the frame too bright, but it also doesn't adequately light the top. I think you might have had more luck if you'd shot in some kind of softbox. I have a small table that I use and drape a white sheet over. Some posterboard underneath that curls up from the bottom along the back, and a desk lamp on either side. Keeps the light from being too direct and blowing out the highlights, but I can usually get it bright enough if I adjust some camera settings.
Post Processing:
The hue/sat adjustment was a good idea... it's not even noticable that you did it, but it probably made big difference in how clean the shot looks. I'm wondering if splitting the image in half and processing just the dominoes in the top/bottom slightly differently as far as the levels/curves would have worked to get rid of some of the too bright/too dark areas? Then again, it might have just looked too unnatural.
Summary:
Overall, I think it was a good illusion, and a unique idea for the challenge. After reading the comments you received during the challenge, it seems like the technical issues are where you probably suffered most.
I hope you found this helpful. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions, and good luck in your future challenges!
Photographer found comment helpful.