Sunset
by booboo_goon

Comment:
I didn't vote in this challenge, but I think what hurt your score the most was the post processing on the sky. The contrast in the sky has been increased so much that it's really posterized (the banding and blobbiness). The increase in contrast also caused the noise in the dark part of the sky to really show up. The sky in your outtake is quite a bit better.

Hope this helps.

Mimosa Beach, Cyprus
by pix-al

Comment:
Also responding to your post mortem...On my work monitor, which is actually a little bright, 1/2 of the screen is pretty much totally black, except for a couple of blobs in the lower left.

Another issue is the sky. Where the sun is is completely blown out, and the rest of the sky has a lot of posterization. Posterization is usually caused by going too far with the curves. Or, now that I'm looking at your editing steps, posterization can be caused by using the brightness and contrast tools. Don't use brightness/contrast. Curves and levels can be used to adjust brightness and contrast, and are much less destructive to the image.

Your reedit is much better. The people become the subject in the reedit. In this one, the sun is the subject.

Hope this helps.

Martini Blue
by PhilipDyer

Comment:
Fun! I like the contrast between the glasses in the back, sitting there quietly, with the action in the front.

FLOWING INTO FALL
by rider

Comment:
An excellent idea! It would work better if the flowers and glass were a bit sharper, but still gets a 6 from me.

Oops!
by JPR

Comment:
hmmmm....interesting. I'm not sure I get it. It's still pretty cool, though.

spring
by Retroesque

Comment:
This is really lovely. Nice colors, composition, and very nice subtle lighting. I'm not sure the moving curtain really adds anything to the composition, other than making the image meet the challenge. But the main part of the image is great.

Peppers in the Pool
by sfalice

Comment:
Nice. The colors, composition, idea, all good. I'd like the top of the red pepper to be sharper, but it's great otherwise.

Still "Life"
by sparrowsdeath

Comment:
Great idea! The lighting may be a little hot, especially at the top. The blobs of milk are blown out and lose their shape. Down lower, next to the cereal, there are still shadows and shape to the milk.

The Secret Kiss...it's there...just look closely.
by Puckzzz

Comment:
Nice job on the smoke. Very delicate.

Conservation of Angular Momentum
by bassbone

Comment:
An interesting, graphic shot. I like the composition and high contrast treatment. Not sure if it counts as "still life" or not, since the only thing that's not moving is the background.