Tonight, I Dream! My Hero, finally a Friend...
by MadMan2k

Comment by dtremain:
Nice concept. I love how the horses are looking opposite directions, thinking the whole thing boring and silly. The lighting seems to be a bit problematic - pretty washed out in the background, heavy shadow under the right Bulls-Eye's head, and Woody looking too light on his arm and face.

Tonight, I Dream! My Hero, finally a Friend...
by MadMan2k

Comment by Lydia:
Adorable!

Tonight, I Dream! My Hero, finally a Friend...
by MadMan2k

Comment by mefnj:
Nice idea, but the photo seems blown out or overexposed

Tonight, I Dream! My Hero, finally a Friend...
by MadMan2k

Comment by Art Roflmao:
:)

Dances with Sky
by MadMan2k

Comment by aliqui:
I don't like the contrasty processing here; especially in the sky. Also, while I truly believe that there's a lot of right angles going on in that red structure, I don't think you've brought enough attention to them in this photo.

FOREIGN HYBRIDS
by MadMan2k

Comment by Jules1x:
Effective propaganda. I'm not sure I love the font size change in 'foreign 'hybrids', but your message works for me.

FOREIGN HYBRIDS
by MadMan2k

Comment by blindjustice:
Ha- very nice. You do a great job, with humor, defending a nonsense position.7

Hitchhiking to Byzantium
by MadMan2k

Comment by MadMan2k:
Thanks for the critique, it was very helpful and well thought out.

Here are some outtakes, and the unedited, zeroed out RAW conversion of the entry:

Hitchhiking to Byzantium
by MadMan2k

Comment by JakeKurdsjuk:
Critique Club Comment:

Nice, I get to critique a Brown Award winner!! ;)

OK, first off, it's not a bad photo and an interesting, if not literal, interpretation of the challenge subject. The thing is, it's not a great photo either, which taken in combination likely is what sank the boat she was waiting for (I gave it a 5).

Reading through the processing you performed I'd be interested to see what you started with. I do a lot of B&W blend layers myself, though I've not used IR filtration/simulation on any of them. You wound up with a very warm image, which you likely started with given the position of the sun, and probably a bit too warm (verging on brown) for me. It's also overly contrasty, which in and of itself isn't necessarily bad, but with the highlights on her face blown out it just doesn't come together well.

How could you have done better? Angles and composition first of all. You’ve got your model framed about where you’d want her and facing in the direction you’d want, but I would have crouched down and run the water under her extended arm. This would have given you more horizon and “beyond” (which is where Byzantium lies, right?), and would have allowed you to put the horizon on the upper 1/3 line compositionally while effectively raising her arm above it. I think you might have been better off getting closer to her as well, going from the knees or mid-thighs up. While you lose the rocks and shore here, you gain the horizon and sky, so it’s a trade-off, but I think it’s better composition. A nice-to-have would have been a vessel of some type for her to seem to be trying to get a ride from. Even if one had passed, it would at least given the observer the idea that she’s not just on a rock giving a thumbs up.

I guess someone has to finish last, and if nothing else, while I wasn’t a huge fan of this image, there’s ones I gave lower scores to. Hope this helps.

Underneath this Amarillo Sky
by MadMan2k

Comment by nygold:
Not the most amazing image in the challenge BUT it reminds me of the great time's I had in Oklahoma. Thanks for the memories. Well done.