10/30
by Pedro

Comment:
If you wig it, it happens immediately :)

Refraction, eh?
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment:
25th is a very respectable placement. the only downside to this one is in the processing - it's a little oversaturated, and either the compression or the sharpening has caused some artifacts and disturbed the clean lines that make this image. I would bet that the full sized version looks spectacular.

a couple of things to avoid this (and you may know this already, but I don't know how familiar you are with photoshop, so bear with me if this is old news):
1. sharpen your image last - AFTER resizing

2. when you resize, use 'bicubic sharper' as your compression algorhythm (in CS and CS2) or use the stair interpolation method (gradual 10% decreases in size rather than one big drop)

3. make sure your colour space is set to sRGB when editing, as that's what viewers see on the web.

the only other thing that throws me off in this one is the horizon - neither the table nor the glasses seem level.

otherwise the concept is perfect for the challenge, and the setup is very clean and pleasing to look at. very solid entry.

P

Naturally Textured
by DigiFotoBuddy

Comment:
A universal truth about entering challenges on DP that you have to deal with, is that voters have 2-300 other images to see before finishing their voting (or more). In order to score well, the image has to have an immediate impact on the voter, or they're already thinking about the next image, or the last one that impacted them.

In this case, you have a very techically competent photo. The setup is very nice, but maybe a little bit linear. shifting the middle shell to add some depth wouldn't hurt. the lighting is sopt on, as is the colour and sharpness. What it doesn't do is SCREAM texture, and that's what the voter is asked to judge. An extreme closeup of the left shell would have more impact in that it's full of texture. The lighting you have used would highlight that, and you could easily have created a palpable texture.

Photographic integrity is certainly important in these challenges, but equally important is creativity and relevant challenge impact.

Keep at it my friend, you have the skills to score well...now you just need to let your brain roam free and see where it takes you :)

Regards,

pedro

sunrise.jpg
by Pedro

Comment:
sunshine off a shiny rock

sunrise.jpg
by Pedro

Comment:
none of your business.

Message edited by author 2006-04-17 18:01:51.

Childhood revisited
by hanneke

Comment:
i had a dream that this exact doll ate my face while i was sleeping once.

i like the edgy processing. suits the subject well and adds to the creepiness. Dunno if you were going for creepy or not - but you found it ;)

P

Message edited by author 2006-04-24 12:35:38.

Long John Silver
by AlexSaberi

Comment:
he he...in the thumb i thought i was looking at Captain Jack Sparrow ;)

nice clean portrait.

8/30
by Pedro

Comment:

Originally posted by Di: how in heck did you do this ?

I overlayed a blank puzzle template on the original image, flattened it, then used the lasso tool to select the individual pieces. then I cut them out, pasted them on another layer, then rotated and moved 'em. i added drop shadows and bevelling to try to give it a little more depth, but ran out of attention-span before i got it right.

?!!!
by Tranquil

Comment:
maybe he's embarrassed about his inordinately large cell phone :)

9/30
by Pedro

Comment:

Originally posted by lepidus: That's cool. Now how did you do it?

I used a PS plugin called 'Xenofex' that I acquired somehow over the years and had never installed. Normally it makes up the the image with mini versions of the same image (which i initially did) but then thought it would be cooler if it were something close to my heart. The first attempt at that wasmy son's face, but it was so small it was unrecognizable. my second favourite thing next to my son (Jack) is Jack Daniels (wonder who he was named after? :))

so yeah. that's how.

P