NYY
by Barroness

Comment:
The light from below makes him look like a gangster. The light and shadows bring out the facial features and lines in a strong way.

Hope
by GolferDDS

Comment:
Beautiful portrait. The light from front/above (sort of ringlight? covered umbrella?) is soft enough and creates enough shadow in her face to emphasise the soft form. The light drops away nicely on both sides of her face to create depth. The hands provide a good balance. (Maybe use of a reflector to bring out her hair and hat and to separate those from the background would have improved it further? Not sure. Currently those are totally lost in the background)

Yes, 50! And So Much FUN!
by SandyP

Comment:
Somehow this does not work for me. It seems very flat and soft. The light does not do much to enhance the shapes. Textures don't come out. (too much processing?)

stepping lightly
by roz

Comment:
Very nice but in my view more like film-noir than chiaroscuro (although there is a connection between the two). Here the strong contrast is used the make the spider jump out from the background and to show its outline, which works well, but chiaroscuro is more about using the light to emphasise the shape of the object itself, for example roundness. (Impossible in macro)

At the margin
by markwiley

Comment:
The light from the left-back nicely shapes that part of the head. It really adds depth and shows the lines. There is still just enough light into the eye as well. I don't mind there is absolutely no detail on the right because the left part is great. Best male portrait in this challenge in my view.

Still life with coffee
by hajeka

Comment:
It is a clear, clean picture with clearly recognisable objects, but this seems to be done with rather a large light source from the front, which does not do anything to emphasise the shape of the objects. If you just look at the front white part of the bowl for example, it does not even look round. Chiaroscuro is about using light from one direction (side/top usually) and, if needed, additional reflective material to bring out detail of the objects and to emphasise the shape.

Life Changing Decisions
by Cyrilda

Comment:
Nice light to emphasise the contours, but it does not do much more. Most shape quickly disappears into the shadows.

Contrast Portrait
by Brin

Comment:
There is a light part of the portrait and a dark part, but on each side the light is rather flat. There is no transition of light to shadow in either part to emphasise the shape of the face further. Some more use of reflection and a slightly different light angle could have added that.

scrutinising
by Ammie

Comment:
Nice image and use of contrast, but the overemphasised highlights remove a lot of depth from her face.

Motion
by BaldurT

Comment:
Yes, this light really brings out the shape, the muscles, despite the movement (and I like the movement as well). That is what the challenge was about in my view. One of the best.