The Game Keeper
by Falc

Comment:
awesome portrait, one of my favorites. hope it won't get hammered by voters with uncalibrated monitors.

Renaissancesque
by armin

Comment:
It is more of a genre painting than a classical portrait, but a great stylization nonetheless.

Boo
by Arti-Elvi

Comment:
impossible to mistake. another great self-portrat, arti!

Backyard Lizard (Lizardus texturus)
by kenskid

Comment:
Congrats on a beautiful shot! I've done it three times, I mean, 7+ and no ribbon, so I know how it feels. But you'll get there soon, I'm sure!

Stories of Her Life
by librodo

Comment:
Outstanding shot, Manny! Amazing textures, amazing face...

Christie
by Alecia

Comment:
Beautiful portrait! I wonder if it would look even better with a dark background?

Soft Shades of Yellow
by Kelli

Comment:
Kelli, since you asked for a critique, here it goes. I see several issues with this shot:
it appears a bit washed out - in a "high key" photo there have to be some (few) really dark, even black accents, otherwise it becomes... yes, washed out :). I understand that you went for a soft focus feel, but I would prefer to see more texture on the petals... One does not have to exclude the other. Also, I think centered composition hurts it a bit. And finally, there are noticable purple fringes around the flowers. This is perhaps not your fault but your camera's, but it does weigh on the shot's visual appeal.

Gates of Life
by Neil

Comment:
Nice moody shot. The only possible problem with it is that the right and upper parts of the structure are totally black, and it would be nicer if they still had some texture similar to the left part. Either way, the score is way lower than it deserves.

Delicate Touch
by edmeng

Comment:
Valera, let me be the first to congratulate on a fine image and the second ribbon! Way to go!

Rays of Light
by Rikki

Comment:

Originally posted by yanko: Originally posted by ltsimring: nice image, Rikki, but what about "adding a major element" clause?! It's got to be pretty major if the title is "Rays of Light"... There were special Advance Editing rules in this one which basically said there were no rules except you couldn't splice multiple images together.

Oops, my bad! I did not take part in this challenge (did not have any original files from 2002), so did not pay close attention to the rules. Congrats on the fine image and the well deserved high score then! :)