Faith
by carlos

Comment:
TO do this shot right, put up a white background and point the light at that. The umbrella showing is just cheesy.

For the idea of Faith (I assume you wanted to make the "shape of prayer/faith" ?? ) you should have had the traditional hands in praying position shot. Something like the following, I presume.

//www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/?id=3042513&refnum=708451&Lang=en

ALso, a good idea, google/flickr the subject or description of your idea. Sometimes it can give you inspiration. Don't be afraid to make an exact copy of the original (no, I don't mean copy/past :P ) while you are learning. It can teach you a lot about how to light things, and the minutiae of photo setups. some on flickr.com will post their setups also. If you haven't yet, check out strobist.com, and go throught the Lighting 101 course on the side there.

to every thing, there is a season
by Skip

Comment:
not everyone knows that Solomon wrote that.

Death Valley Outlook (B & W)
by Ian-Andrew

Comment:
You might try channel mixer, pick the blue channel first, and then monochrome. Then bring Blue down to 0, and red and green +75 or so. I've been using this method a lot and I really like the results for most daylight balance pictures. but yes, a little neat image on this does wonders.

Frosty's rarely seen little brother
by cryingdragon

Comment:
LONG LIVE MEAT MAN!

LLMM!

Death Painted Life
by aznym

Comment:
congrats on the top 10! well deserved.

IMG_4430 copy_filtered small size.jpg
by AdrienneGC

Comment:
There's a few spots that you didn't get the selection or mask quite right, but the idea and the pose are good. I'd like to see the background darkened a bit and some vingetting added to draw your eyes to the subject more.

Point to Point
by Techo

Comment:
You are getting sleepy, veeeeery sleeeeeepyyyyyyyy, you will now teach the concept photography claaaaaaaassss. snap!

Chamber of Light
by essie

Comment:
I love these, and this is a good BW treatment, I hope I can get to go there someday.

Contemplation
by dwterry

Comment:
My Lord Terry! I was for sure this was photoshopped all over the place. You truly are a fantastic portrait artist. This is one to be admired!

Contemplation
by dwterry

Comment:
he shoots and he scooooores!!!