Of light and solitude
by mariuca

Comment:
I like the more traditional approach. The pictures in the book, the roses, I am wondering about the meaning (which is good in my view, if an image does that). Nice soft spot placed with the light. Maybe a short burst of light very low across the coloured cloth could have added a bit more texture and appeal.

the Woods
by Lydia

Comment:
Nice colours and lines but it seems to be about the effect only.

Taking A Bad Photo?
by GeneralE

Comment:
Bad? depends on what you want to achieve...true, you could have gone for more precise and stylized letters, you could have gone for a full black background (there is a lot of detail hidden in the shadows), maybe add some other points of interest etc, but then it would not be a bad photo matching your title anymore, right? Maybe I will rate it higher later because of all this, I think I need to let it sink in first before I can fully appreciate it.

Blood Letting
by Phocal

Comment:
I am impressed by your idea and technique but the result for me is too messy still to put it in my top 3. I think I would have preferred a more unidirectional and steady tracing (if at all possible with your light source). I wonder how you got the girls to stand still so precisely while they were being traced by the light source. I like it how you used different colours for each of the girls and the blue for the object (I though she was doing her hair until I saw your title).

chrysanthemum
by Tiberius

Comment:
I like the depth and warm atmosphere of this image. I think it would have been better if you would have shown a bit more of the rest of the scene, by tracing some of the other flowers with your light, just a bit more, to raise them from the shadows. They are currently hardly visible (but I can see them in photoshop)

Black and White Chiaroscuro
by Lydia

Comment:
A pity in my view that you went for an image from the same series as your previous blue ribbon from the "portrait with closed eyes" challenge and did not submit and make something different. That having been said, I'll judge it on its merits: One of the best ones in this challenge in my view. For this challenge, this one is even better than your previous winner image from the portrait challenge. The light follows and brings out the shape of her face very well, with good highlights and shadows to show the depth. There is still quite some details in her cheek and neck but it is also dark enough to not draw attention and to show it is further away from the viewer. I like the use of water as well. Top 5.

Pears
by DistantColours

Comment:
I like the setup and the use of the small platforms for the pears. Unfortunately I think this still life if flawed because the light is coming from two directions and this works against the shape of the pears, especially on the middle and left pear. I would expect the light to nicely wrap around the pear and go from light to dark gradually to emphasise the round shape. Painting with light can be a great method to achieve that. The right pear is close but there could be some more shadow, i.e. less light, on the bottom-right.

Needle and Threads
by DistantColours

Comment:
Inspired by the "holes" challenge ? Never mind. Many pictures have been done before.

The weightlifter
by Sisto

Comment:
Nice abstraction.

Detail on a tiny box
by jomari

Comment:
It is so hard to photograph such stones...a pity the front facing parts don't show more colour, but overall an attractive image with nice colours and patterns.