Bow View
by PaulE

Comment by jaysonmc:
Relection in the glasses is nice.

Balancing Act
by PaulE

Comment by yanko:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Setup:
I like the setup in general. As a result the shot looks fairly believable. The lighting is an issue as others have already pointed out. Not only is it a bit too bright but it's also making her pupil too large. That and the lack of a catchlight or more detail in the eye makes her look a bit lifeless to me. The shadows are good and the background works well. Really just the lighting is holding this back from a setup stand point. Perhaps try diffusing your flash somewhat.

Subject/composition:
I like the idea. It's different and different is good.

The composition is fine, but it feels a bit contorted to me. It looks like I'm seeing the peas straight on but her face is at an angle, which weakens the balance perception. Perhaps a straight on profile shot would have worked better? In addition to removing the contortion it may have also help keep the focus squarely on the peas and the balancing act.

Post Processing
Good work here. No halos or any other visual artifacts. A couple of things I might suggest to improve would be to just clean things up more. For example, remove the dents on some of those peas so that they look better. Also, I'd be tempted to tone down that one shadow underneath her eye just so it wasn't so prominent. Oh and make sure she doesn't read that. :P I just think it pulls my eye there a bit and you want the focus on the peas.

Well that's it. This was a good take on the challenge. The score is a bit low but that's probably all due to the lighting issue. If you nailed that this would have scored much higher, IMO.

Balancing Act
by PaulE

Comment by sherpet:
clever.....

Balancing Act
by PaulE

Comment by Elvis_L:
lighting seems a bit ahrsh in some parts. not a bad idea and pulled off pretty well.

Balancing Act
by PaulE

Comment by vxpra:
Did you glue these togther? If not you deserve a "14" for the talent.

Balancing Act
by PaulE

Comment by Kavey:
Clever and nicely done!

Balancing Act
by PaulE

Comment by cerebis:
ok ... there's two ways you could have done this, either theres a thread through the peas and they are suspended from above, or ... the really cruel alternative way, where there is a thin skewer through the peas, and you have callously pushed this skewer into the nose of your long suffering model. I'm really hoping you went the suspension route! :)
On a technical note, it would have been nice to see a catchlight in the models eye, I'm guessing the light was coming from too far beneath and to the right of the shot to hit her eyer, but that also makes the bottom right of her chin very bright, which brings the eye there first (and to her lips also, now that I look at it again)

Balancing Act
by PaulE

Comment by scarbrd:
clever, lighting is a little harsh, especially in the lower right.

Balancing Act
by PaulE

Comment by hotpasta:
you're really good with balance! I like the colour...lighting is just a tad harsh, but a good creative shot

Reflections
by PaulE

Comment by DefyTime:
Great shot...love the golden tones