A Bend in the River
by moondog

Comment:
It's such a beautiful shot, but the processing has taken so much from it, imo. It looks like it would have such wonderful deep, rich tones that have been so washed out by being so bright. I think the over-sharpening could work if only it were darker and richer. -5-

The Picture of Dorian Gray
by mrchhas

Comment:
Very nicely done. A few small nitpicks: the hands are a little odd -- flat and blown? And the arch coming out of the head in the mirror is odd and very distracting. I wish it wasn't centered on the head. Just a little to the left or right and it would have been much better. That being said, it's one of my favorites in the challenge. -9-

The Phantom of the Opera (1920. Gaston Leroux)
by Denielle

Comment:
I like the DOF, but I'm not sure of the angle that you chose. It looks a little flat overall, both in composition and in tonality, imo. I'm curious what it would have looked like at more of a diagonal on the keyboard, and with the whites a little whiter. -5-

Wuthering Heights
by wdamman

Comment:
I have the same type of comment as I had on the other Wuthering Heights shot. Interesting building. But it doesn't evoke much of the emotion or feeling of the novel. On the plus side -- normally I don't like harsh shadows, but it works in this case to get some of the moodiness. But there's so much to this novel, I don't know that a building alone can really channel it. -6-

The Secret Garden
by giantmike

Comment:
One of my favorite books. While the colors are lovely, this doesn't really give me much of a feeling of a garden: either before when it's overgrown or after, once they've started to take care of it. Perhaps adding people would have helped to get some emotion into the shot. -5-

Black Beauty
by jomari

Comment:
Works with the novel. Not crazy about the horizontal line going across the lower part of the background. But you probably didn't have much of an option of going higher or lower to get it in a better place. -6-

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
by Damon

Comment:
Not sure the foreground adds much. At first I thought that the weeds in the lower left might lead nicely into the interesting area of the upper left, but I think it points out that that there's just not much interesting in the foreground, and it's quite shadowed.

I would love to see this cropped just as the upper 1/4 of the photo. That part is particularly nice. :)

I wish there was more of a connection to the novel, however. -6-

The Prophet
by jagar

Comment:
Another book with which I'm not familiar. However, extremely intrigued with the image. Beautiful, magical. -9-

The Water Babies ~ Charles Kingsley
by Ja-9

Comment:
Nicely done. I'm not familiar with the story, but in looking it up, I can let my mind go with this one and it works for me. I like the softness and the blur. I like the palette. Nicely done. -7-

Charlotte's Web
by DanaS

Comment:
I like the depth of field. I find the brighter line in the background distracting. I'm wondering if it was possible to burn it a bit in processing, or to change your angle when shooting to have avoided that break in the shot.
-5-