i highly doubt this will do much as far as score. too "dark" and will surely turn people off. wasn't going to submit anything but a couple of hours before the deadline, i was watching some TooL videos and came up with this shot. yes, disturbing inspiration, i know.
very little pp, rotate, levels, contrast, levels again, contrast again, levels again,channel mixer, photo filter: orange, resize, usm, sfw
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post challenge:
thanks to those for taking the time to comment and vote.
about cropping the very bottom section, i was thinking about it but as i looked at it, it gave me an illusion as if i were looking through a bedroom window. i figured it wouldn't really make a big difference in the final score anyway since i knew this one would tank primarily because of it having such a dark theme.
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I have just read the comments on this image, which are actually quite interesting. Of them all, I have to agree with Zeuszen.
Of course, the subject is a little dark for DPC, and because it requires the viewer to consider it for more than 5 seconds, I suspect you got some low votes from the speed voters, which is a pity, as it certainly an image that tells a story.
I would personally never tell you that you should have cropped out the foreground. However, what I will say is that if you are concerned about your score, then cropping the foreground may have helped you. I have noticed recently that DPC voters don't particularly like shallow depth of field in the foreground. I happen to like it as is, it adds to the overall mood.
I could see this image used as a dust jacket for a murder mystery.
As far as the score goes, I think you knew going in that this may not score so well. The score certainly does not reflect on the quality of the image.
I was reading the comments on the image. The subject, of course, is not the person holding the pipe. It's fear. And no, you didn't fail to communicate this via the image. Some viewers failed to consider the obvious.
Am I correct if I say that there's a man waiting for a mouse? I don't know what happened in the lower right corner of the photo, looks like you added some blur for some reason. A higher DOF would probably make the hole more obvious, and I think that would've contributed to the photo. Maybe a tad dark, but the colors are great.