Eschscholtzia Californica
by Tarbini

Comment by kiwiness:
Critique Club:

Hi Todd. This was one of my favourites in the postcard challenge and I was very astonished to see it way back at place 52. You postcard turned out beautifully and is exactly the kind of card I see in postcard stands everywhere.

The digital art aspect of your submission is the reason it was placed so far down the line. For some reason digital art doesn't come over too well with the majority of DPC voters, even if it is a fine work of art like this is.

Thank you for posting your original shot of the flowers as well as the steps you took in the post processing phase. This not only works as a kind of tutorial, but also shows me the amount of thought and fine tuning you put into your postcard.

To the photo itself, the color combinations are amazing (could also be a good secondary color challenge submission). Your choice of backfround, border and lettering couldn't have been better. This image is a pleasure to look at. Congratulations on an excellent submission which was unfortunately extremely underrated.

Gary

Eschscholtzia Californica
by Tarbini

Comment by ChrisW123:
Thanks Tarbini! Great idea using that glass background and sort of flattening the poppies a little... it makes the final image really look great!

Glassware
by Tarbini

Comment by jmsetzler:
= 6

Eschscholtzia Californica
by Tarbini

Comment by Tarbini:
Thanks for the comments. I will still submit the "digital art" types of entries. I really liked this one. I do understand that it blurs "digital art" and photography.
However, The shot was taken during the challenge week and all rules were followed.
I arranged the poppies on a glass candle holder, sprinkled with water and took a few shots with different exposures and metering.
The PS7 steps I took are with the submission.

Chris- here is the original image:
//www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=21428

Glassware
by Tarbini

Comment by MattW:
the glass looks nice, but the picture itself is not very creative..the clarity is very nice also

Glassware
by Tarbini

Comment by DennisF:
Vases are positioned well. I assume the background was intended to be white. Looks like you could set the white balance for the lighting or use the post processing to make it white ( in levels). I downloaded this and set the background to white. It really stands out.

Eschscholtzia Californica
by Tarbini

Comment by ChrisW123:
I also agree that this one should have done better. I'd love to see the original image. If the original is really an image of real poppies, this is amazing given the rules.

Eschscholtzia Californica
by Tarbini

Comment by GinaRothfels:
Have to agree with kiwiness. I've only looked at the thumbnails of most entries to this challenge, but this one sure stood out. Personally I can't understand this discrimination against digital art.

Eschscholtzia Californica
by Tarbini

Comment by kiwiness:
What's this doing way back here? This postcard is far too good for place 52!

The Ultimate Driving Machine
by Tarbini

Comment by inspzil:
Its really late so this will be short and sweet :)

Composition - I'd have shown more of the car. It's hard to tell if its he front or the back of the car. I'm assuming its the back though from the water drops coming up from the left of the tire. Too much ground, not enough car.

Technical - Exposure looks pretty good aside from being a little flat. I don't know how much drama or emotion you can put in a picture like this.

Overall - Not a poorly taken pic, but the composition really lacks the necessary framing to make this shot as effective as it could be. Good luck in future stuff....blah blah blah -Inspzil