Hold 'em or Fold 'em
by joansuzy

Comment by Arcanist:
At first, the link to the challenge seems to elude me. However the cards are placed down, not held, face up, not down. The player has decided to revela the hand. A stretch for me, a weak link to the challenge as I feel no anticipation of a decision, no emotion charged with the image. Alone the cards are well shot, however the image at this size has suffered from compression artifacts or over sharpening. They are well placed against the negative space, but this is an excercise in cropping and light control. It does not keep my interest. Add some text in the lower left corner however and this image could become powerful as an advertisement or poster. A good capture, but lacking in the challenge links when compared to others in this round. I offer a 4.

Hold 'em or Fold 'em
by joansuzy

Comment by mamaesme:
Good idea...

Hold 'em or Fold 'em
by joansuzy

Comment by CLarson557:
Good idea for the challenge. I would probably hold 'em and take my chances :-)

Hold 'em or Fold 'em
by joansuzy

Comment by Pedxer:
Good idea, really i think this is a decisiojn that is unique, but a professional deck woulda helped you out.

TOME BEAUTIES
by joansuzy

Comment by buzzmom:
my favorite hobby after photography...nice to see someone else finds the beauty of books

TOME BEAUTIES
by joansuzy

Comment by LucidLotus:
I love the color. The use of the different colored books was wonderful, and I do find it a beautiful collection. I also like the idea of something different than the usual nature/model image. I think the lighting however is a detriment. You definitely need good lighting to let all these rich colors pop through but the shine/glare that is reflecting off of them is very distracting and does harm the look I think you were going for. I think the focus is decent but could be better - its possible that the glare from the books is affecting this though. Finally, the only other thing I'd suggest changing would be a slight rotation so the books didn't appear to be leaning to the right, rather would be straight up and down. Other than those things I really like this entry and again I love the color shown! I gave a 6.

TOME BEAUTIES
by joansuzy

Comment by CEJ:
Liked the concept but didn't like the lighting.

TOME BEAUTIES
by joansuzy

Comment by karmat:
The lighting is a bit harsh on the left side, I believe, making it difficult to distinguish all the details in the covers

TOME BEAUTIES
by joansuzy

Comment by joyinlight:
Great idea- there is so much beauty in books- It would be more pleasing with more depth of shadow- Too much light takes away from the dark richness of the covers.

TOME BEAUTIES
by joansuzy

Comment by Steveinnz:
Original, great composition. I am not an expert on lighting but it seems not right in this photo, too glary??