War is Hell
by glad2badad

Comment:
Wow! Congratulations on your 7th place finish!! Way to go!!!

SWIM AT OWN RISK (after)
by jonnienye

Comment:
You did a good job of bringing out specific contours and textures within the photo but I can still see your brush strokes :)

Try bringing the hardness of the brush all the way down and using dodge and burn at about 4% opacity each. Dodging and Burning Midtones should get you there. Make a new layer (ctrl j) after each pass on the photo (what I mean is do a whole layer of light dodging and then copy that layer and do some more and copy that layer and burn etc...) and do it lightly on each layer. Then flatten... I think you will be happy with the results. :)

This is not a bad photo to begin with and the highlights and shadows you are bringing out are phenominal :)

Nights in white lace.
by Puckzzz

Comment:
I actually like this quite a bit. If I could change one thing, it would be to see more of your shoulder in the right image of you. Very minor detail as I can't stop looking at your eyes anyway. It is perhaps the monitor problem that caused some of the low votes. Of course, I like the "edited" face look. I did some very light editing on mine and still got the "you over edited this" comments. LOL You should be proud to be able to add this to your portfolio. It is very creative and very unusual and your lighting is excellent. As Monica mentioned, the differences in expression are also very captivating and interesting :)

Gosh, sorry that is so long, but I hope it helps :) Also, your average vote from commenters is really really good :)

Touch
by escapetooz

Comment:
My fave!! You connected with the viewer here in a way that I don't see in any of the others. In all of those, you are either looking away or you look uncomfortable or it seems like fake emotion. In this one, your eyes say it all :)

March
by karmat

Comment:
This looks like such fun!! I am glad you got to capture her really living life :)

Abyss
by IreneM

Comment:
I am not voting, just viewing and commenting a couple... I just have to say, this is going to win a blue ribbon. This is the best macro splash shot I have ever seen. You nailed the colours and the focus is sublime. It even looks like it has a head just like the movie. If this is Irene, WOW girl, all that practice has sure paid off, you get better and better!! If not, you should know that you and IreneM have a lot in common :) Let me be the first to congratulate you! LOL

Magical Cascade
by photokariangel

Comment:
This is beautiful kari!! I love that you only used one light source too, it really keeps the photo from being overwhelming to the eye :)

Congratulations on the top 20 finish!! :)

The Real Deal
by MelonMusketeer

Comment:
she is gorgeous!!! :)

My Spider Friend
by ShaneBlake

Comment:
I am lovin the little glint of light in the middle of his head!! Fab-o-lish!! :) hehe

bday cake.jpg
by noth1021

Comment:
HAPPY (belated, sorry I missed it!) BIRTHDAY!!! NICE CAKE!! :)