egg-scape
by insteps

Comment:
In addition to what graphicfunk said, I believe that this photo is a great candidate for soft focus also. The lighting here and the darker overall theme would lend itself well to that... Make a duplicate layer of the original image... add a hefty amount of gaussian blur, and then change the opacity of that layer until you are satisfied with the look/feel of the effect... This would completely eliminate the sharpening artifacts... The image may not need any sharpening at all. I would try the soft focus before you sharpen to see what looks good :)

Perfectly Poised
by L1

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club...

Hi Laurie...

I have always been fascinated by the wooden mannequins. I think they provide us with some unique photograph opportunities. Since they are human in form, they seem to easily offer 'life' where there is none. This in itself, can be fascinating :) I believe that Man Ray may have been one of the first photographers to use these as photo props. Some of his photos using these as props may have been done as early as 1926. There is a series called "Mr. and Mrs. Woodman" and another called "La Television" that I'm aware of. These are worth taking a look at if you are interested... search the web and see what you come up with. I have photographed a few of these myself and it is quite entertaining :)

I think your photograph here meets the challenge nicely. Your creative lighting also adds to the image. There are lots of opportunities for creative use of light here. This is one of those situations where you have to try a lot of different options and see what works best. If I was setting this up, I would try lots of different lighting scenarios before I started shooting. I find it interesting to simply observe how light interacts with a subject and how I can change that interaction by moving the light. This particular image would be quite intriguing if the mannequin was back-lit also. Back lighting could possible silhouette the mannequin and create a highlight border around it. The shapes and textures of this mannequin create some excellent shadow/highlight detail.

Another element that I would look at in a little more detail here is 'depth'. You chose to photograph this mannequin from a perspective that is fairly flat. Try some experimentations with different camera angles that create the sense of depth with this subject. With photography, that dimension of depth can be very powerful.

You received one comment here that I agree would be worth examination. Keegbow's comment about the crop... I also feel that some elements of this composition are dangerously close to the edge/corners of the frame. Filling the frame with your subject is usually a good idea, but you have to leave some amount of breathing room as well. The upper right corner is where this is most dominant in your photo.

Cheers and good luck in future challenges :)

John Setzler

Bent
by nathank

Comment:
This is a beautiful photo. It's also the lowest scoring photo that I gave a '10' in this challenge. Excellent work :)

Physical and Abstract Balance
by graphicfunk

Comment:
Greetings...

This is an excellent interpretation of 'balance' on multiple levels, as you intended. The colored reflections in the orbs seem to give this image another level of interest as well. They almost create two 'eyes' that are staring back at me. These eyes are telling me your story of balance. I have found it difficult and challenging in the past to create an image that shows multiple interpretations of the same theme. You have done well with that here.

On the visual side of this image, I think there are lots of opportunities for alternative compositions that would be equally or even more appealing. Since your orbs are balanced on the left and right, I wonder what type of feeling would be created by making them off balance? I think that if you let the left orb become 'heavier' than the right, that you would create a nice diagonal flow in the image... possibly introducing a third elemental theme to the image of "why?" :) With your background theme indicating a balance of the sexes, and the balanced orbs being complementary of that theme, an offset in that physical balance would help to introduce the mystery of the photographer's though process. As far as the challenge is concerned, you would likely have suffered for this idea, but I'm speaking solely from a standpoint of the imagery itself. Just some food for thought :)

Thanks for the effort you have been putting into your comments... they are appreciated by me and many others :)

Steamer
by peecee

Comment:
I look at this photo and wonder which particular element you would consider to be the subject. The pole in the foreground is somewhat interesting, but what purpose does it serve? It feels like a lone element of the image and I can't particularly put a finger on its relevance. I see a smaller composition within this larger one that looks like it could be higher impact than the image as a whole... maybe you can find it :)

Chocolate a la papier
by greenmatt

Comment:
This would have been more interesting maybe if it was in focus. It's a rather weak theme overall and doesn't show much particular interest or effort.

Many more bites to come
by shiva5381

Comment:
something needs to be in focus. The date from your camera certainly doesn't add any artistic value either...

Balancing Act - The New Bridge Takes Shape
by davidbedard

Comment:
I can't wait to get down and see the new cooper river bridge :)

.
by David.C

Comment:
I think this is probably my favorite photo in this challenge. Freedom is a concept that is destroyed by time. Your photo probably illustrates the purest form of freedom I have seen this week. When time is NOT of the essence, freedom is strong. Great shot and excellent thinking... = 10

Freedom of the Seas
by davidbedard

Comment:
Gorgeous photo... i love it :)