Speed, Why Rush?
by Martin

Comment:
Lighting's pretty harsh, and not enough contrast between the snail and the ground. Having the snail do something more interesting would have been better.

Fast Food
by laurenrhae

Comment:
Good idea - the execution just didn't work. I'd have no idea what was in this shot without the title - I assume its a burger? Needed a little more work with the lighting, shutter speed or something.

conehead digest
by grigrigirl

Comment:
Did a google for "conehead digest", and this was the first hit. Unfortunately, I didn't find any other match. I'm one of those LMVs who expected a real magazine. If this is one, sorry. As a photo, I suppose if there were a conehead digest, this might as likely be a cover as anything else. I find the figure disturbing, but I suppose conehead types might find this appealing. 3

Smithsonian
by shareinnc

Comment:
I really wanted to give this one a top score, but the focus kept it from getting there. Great subject and look for that mag. 8

Corn Syrup, Freshly Squeezed
by ScottK

Comment:
Thanks for everyone who took the time to vote and comment. My best effort so far! Seems I'm getting better in steps anyway.

To answer some of the comments and questions:

- The background is a piece of black foam rubber. I got it at a craft store, it was in the same section as the felt (which was what I was looking for originally - but liked this better). I only got white and black, but they had about 15-20 colors. This stuff is great, cause it totally absorbs the light and gives no reflections. Since I didn't have any colors, I thought black was a better contrast for the yellow corn and clear syrup than white. I tried at the last minute changing the black in PS, but between my lack of PS skills and general color "issues" (I'm color blind), I gave up as there wasn't time. And, ultimately, I liked the black.

- My two primary "gripes" with the shot were: the reflections of my lamp in the syrup, and the gnarled kernals at the tip of the cob. I thought it was interesting that only one person brought each of those up.

- My number 3 problem was, as several mentioned, the color of the corn. It was, in real life, a very whitish yellow. I bumped up the yellow a bit, but couldn't get the "classic" corn yellow to come out. Again, better PS skills might have helped here.

- A couple of comments mentioned trying a different angle for the corn. I did shoot it held several different angles, with the corn dripping in different directions, though I didn't try it with the corn horizontal. I just loved the smooth flow and the curve that this angle achieved. I couldn't get those kind of lines at any other angle. (I'm also curious to hear what Tim meant by "longer format".)

Oh, and yes it was very messy! After about 50 rounds of pouring, there was syrup dripping everywhere - but fortunately not on my camera.

So, that's about it. Don't know if anyone will read this, but here it is... :-)

Message edited by author 2003-06-12 20:32:55.

Milk Bubbles in Oil
by Eliza

Comment:
Now that's an interesting idea. Unfortunately, it didn't work very well as an image. The focus is pretty soft (maybe some more DOF?), and the bubbles are just messy looking. 4

RED RUM
by K-Rob

Comment:
More focus on the bottle, or more specifically, the label, than on the liquid. A pretty good job of capturing that though. Interesting composition and lighting. Just wasn't what I was looking for in this challenge. 4

Martini Anyone?
by URBANREMIXdotCOM

Comment:
The exposure and coloring just don't work for me. Difficult to focus anywhere. The best thing I can say is it captures the vision of someone who's had too many of them. 4

On the Rocks
by dphillips

Comment:
Lighting and background aren't real good. If you wanted to get the fizzing, then there should have been more of it. Focus is ok though not real sharp. Just not real interesting. 4

film developer
by Dustin

Comment:
OK, it's liquid. Not very interesting. No colors, the focus doesn't really lead me anywhere interesting, if that makes any sense. 4