Battle - (Drill Bits & Chess Pieces)
by cislander

Comment by geekssweet:
interesting vision.

Saxual Gold
by cislander

Comment by PaulE:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

Hi Charles,

That sure is a beautiful instrument: a wonderful place to start when aiming to create a beautiful image.

I'll start with what works for me in this shot. I like the point-of-view and the rich colour tones. The lighting is good, really bringing out the lines and flow of the sax.

I imagine the image was voted down a little because it does not absolutely 'pop' with gold. As has already been commented - it is dark and red. Personally I like the opulent hue and glow this gives to the shot, but others are different. Anyway, you have not been cut-down by the DNMC trolls - merely just marked down a bit.

I'm guessing the sax is at rest in it's case. It is a little too easy to see that the shot was rotated to veritcal. I think it would have worked better if you has set the sax in a stand with a slightly less dark background. This would have removed the distracting reflections in the inside of the bell.

I hope my comments help and Good Luck in future Challenges!

Cheers
Paul

Samsara (a cycle of death and rebirth)
by cislander

Comment by LucidLotus:
I like the idea behind this image, and the balance it represents. Unfortunately I think it suffers a bit from technical issues. The focus on the dried portion looks okay, though more centered on the edge of the petal? when it really should encompass both petals as a whole since they are your main subject. the addition of the droplets is nice, helps further the idea of freshness and life but with the focus problems the drops actually accentuate the blurring. I like the character background but I'm not sure that it doesn't make the image too busy. I'm not sure if it would help, but if you can manage it, try puting the petals on a glass plate and place that about 6-8 inches above the character paper/background then fix your lights to ensure no distracting shadows and see if that helps separate your subject from its background, it *might* help contain the focus on the subjects where it belongs too. Just something I saw in my research but haven't tried yet, so I can't be 100% sure if it'd work out! I gave a 4

Battle - (Drill Bits & Chess Pieces)
by cislander

Comment by Zega1:
oh, the poor pawn!!!!!!! Right through the head!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! On another note, The textures are interesting. The chess pieces have a shininess to them which is a great contrast to the grittiness of the sawdust. Intiresting composition if a little cluttered. I am by no means an expert, but I think it would be intiresting to do a piece that focused on the one pawn in the foreground. Many ideas strike my mind, maby somthing strikes yours? I liked it.

Samsara (a cycle of death and rebirth)
by cislander

Comment by Titia:
I think the background is just a bit too much, it distracts the eye from the main object, which in itself is beautiful. 5

Samsara (a cycle of death and rebirth)
by cislander

Comment by sherpet:
Another good idea, but feel the background is a little to busy...

Battle - (Drill Bits & Chess Pieces)
by cislander

Comment by Diablito:
not bad :)

Samsara (a cycle of death and rebirth)
by cislander

Comment by Melethia:
A good idea for the challenge when combined with the title; like the background a lot, focus is excellent. The dead petal, though, is pretty much unrecognizable as a petal. I think it would be nice with just the single red rose petal against your background.

Battle - (Drill Bits & Chess Pieces)
by cislander

Comment by h2:
what's that distracting thing in the background?

Battle - (Drill Bits & Chess Pieces)
by cislander

Comment by Melethia:
Ack! The horror!!