Home of the Brave
by BAMartin

Comment by EL-ROI:
For this challenge: More stripes, less stars

Cutting Edge Design
by BAMartin

Comment by moodville:
Good composition, good detail, nicely sharp, no bad reflections, good shot.

Daffodil
by BAMartin

Comment by gpierson:
beautiful

Cutting Edge Design
by BAMartin

Comment by rickhd13:
nice shot...good angle on the sword...the background could have been darker to really bring out the colors in the sword

Cutting Edge Design
by BAMartin

Comment by Ivar:
Very nice craftmanship on the sword.

Did you use a very shallow dof? It looks to me that the handle is not as sharp as the ornament near the blade..

Cutting Edge Design
by BAMartin

Comment by ChrisW123:
Nice one... I'm thinking that maybe you should have flipped this horizontally so that the blade is facing up, like when someone is hold a sword (it's facing up usually). Maybe a little more USM also.

Cutting Edge Design
by BAMartin

Comment by HeatherJ:
Beautiful

Cutting Edge Design
by BAMartin

Comment by Kavey:
Wow, that's striking! And my first impression is of how well the black background really brings out the rich gold and red. Interesting diagonal composition too. The detail work on the object is beautiful and one can really peer closely at it and see the fine workmanship. In terms of how much I like the image itself, I think it's one of the stronger entries in the challenge, but am less enthusiastic about it outside the context of the challenge. The image quality is good, lighting works well to bring out the detail, but for me, it lacks interest. I feel like I'm looking at a catalogue photo of a beautiful item rather than an image I might choose to hang on the wall. Nice choice of a less obvious subject matter for the challenge.

Cutting Edge Design
by BAMartin

Comment by andywightman:
An attractive study with good detail and colouration. Only one minor point - on a photo like this the background is important. You've chosen something suitable but I can detect its texture. You really need something absoloutly monochromatic. Or you couod select and apply a blur if you have phot editing software. A minor point though. Good work.

Cutting Edge Design
by BAMartin

Comment by leaf:
hmmm... decent.. doesn't really make me think, or hold my interest. the background could be improved by being BLACK.. and not a dusty grey/black...