Fallen Hero
by thomaspeople

Comment by HBunch:
The idea is really neat. I'm thinking I would prefer if this were not smack dab in the center of the photo though. Maybe you could add some dramatic angle or different crop.
The colors are bright. maybe a bit too bright. They appear to be oversaturated giving off kind of a bad 'glow'.
That area with the words in it appears to have a softer focus than the hat itsself. The hat has nice focus and we can see the texture in the area surrounding the decal.
The decal though is hard to look at due to the color and the 'glow' and the appearance of soft focus there.
I think I'd like it if the background did not have a pattern on it. Maybe just a solid black background would work for this and that way, our eyes could focus on the texture of the hat and the words on the hat. Try messing with saturation and brightness/contrast. That may be able to lessen the color a bit and darken the background some.
Overall a nice representation of the challenge, just needs a bit of 'cleaning up'.
~Heather~

Fallen Hero
by thomaspeople

Comment by tcrock41:
I like the idea. It looks like you brightened just a bit too much. Too much color noise.

Up or Down?
by thomaspeople

Comment by PowerPuff:
Interesting angle, picture could have been a little clearer.

Up or Down?
by thomaspeople

Comment by olith:
the kid needs að playstation 2 before 3 comes out

Up or Down?
by thomaspeople

Comment by twm122:
I like the idea but wish you had focused on the controller with the little hands.

Up or Down?
by thomaspeople

Comment by bananashay:
Composition is great on this. The focus falls somewhere between the controller and his head, I think....would be nice to have it on one or the other. Looks a little pixely/grainy, did you crop the original a lot?

Up or Down?
by thomaspeople

Comment by Matthew:
I am making this comment on a number of votes, but please don't hold that against me: I just wanted to let you know why I gave you a relatively low score in this challenge. I have approached voting with the starting point that the photograph should stand on its own (ie without the title), and have as a focal point a decision (ie I should look at this photo and one of the main things that I should be thinking about when looking at the photo is, "there is a decision just made, being made, or about to be made, and this photo captures that moment". Ideally, I'd love to be provoked by the image into thinking that "the essence of this photo is the decision it portrays".

Unfortunately, absent the title, I would not have guessed that your photo was intended to capture a "decision". As the rules state, I am voting with high regard to the challenge description. However, I am explaining why in case you were left wondering why your score is not doing was well as you expected!

Specific to your picture, I would add that
the highlights in the controller are overexposed and the image might have been more interesting if we coud have seen the model's face (eg game reflecting in his eyes...)

Up or Down?
by thomaspeople

Comment by dockode:
I don't feel that the image conveys instantly recognizable decision. Otherwise a good image.

Up or Down?
by thomaspeople

Comment by Minstrel:
i see no decision in this photo

Up or Down?
by thomaspeople

Comment by Arcanist:
A child plays with the video game machine. I am certain that the aspect of play requires decision-making but the image does not seem to outright convey decision making to me. Looking away with a soft focus on the face and harsh glare ont eh controller, bring no life, no interest to the image for me. The presence of the fleece jacket and odd-patterned 'thing' in the upper left corner only harm the rest of the image by pushing it into more of a snapshot feeling.

The gaming concept may have been better helped by the presence of a manual and a portion of the screen where the player must make a decision, or a contemplative look by the main subject as he pondered the right thing to do.

I personally feel a weak link to the challenge, distracting elements in the fore and background and can only offer a 3 as a vote on this image.