Toyota Tacoma. Tough enough to take you anywhere.
by postoakinversion

Comment:
Not bad. This beach setting doesn't exactly scream rough terrain to me but it's nice scenery. The focus should be sharp enough for me to be able to read the make and model of the car.

It's clear, choose Bacardi: El Highball Unico!
by tony927

Comment:
There's nothing in the glass. Also, I can't see the entire name on either bottle and neither is in very sharp focus. Are you selling the glass or the liquor? It's advertising. The product label should be very clear. There is a blurry triangle shape at the lower left corner that seems to have no place in the set-up.

glasses by "EXPOSURE". Don't look at the negatives
by marlin

Comment:
I don't get this at all. What is the product? The background cloth looks like an unmade bed. If the product is the lenses then they should be in sharper focus and the brand name should be very prominent. The negatives are in even less focus then the lenses. I have no idea what the red wire thing is supposed to be.

It's Monumentally Refreshing!
by Nelzie

Comment:
Doesn't sell me. My eye keeps wandering to the top right corner where a section of your background paper was puckered and created a shadow. This says 'stack of cans' more than 'monument' to me. It might have been more effective to use just one can with a wide angle lens and really sharp focus. This is just kind of dull.

Cheap Thrills at unseengallery.com
by hannafate

Comment:
Pretty good. It makes the point in a fairly interesting way. It doesn't make me want to check out the link, though.

Seriously Refreshing
by Rooster

Comment:
Nice try but it isn't selling me. I'm distracted by the acne on the model's face and his looming presence overpowers the product. The bottle of Aquafina should be far more prominent. Remember what you are selling.

Editied post voting...and edited a second time for typos. ;-D

Hi there...I didn't mean to be insulting with this comment. When I said 'nice try' I wasn't being flip. I really did mean that it was a good effort. As a portrait, it is quite nice actually. Your brother is a handsome subject (I actually thought he was a hired model, in fact) I just felt that his skin needed toning down for the true feel of an advertisment. Models and actors don't really have perfect skin (ever notice Brad Bitt and Gwen Stefani have some acne scarring?). What they do have is artists who perfect their skin post-production.
Anyway, this was an Open Challenge and there wasn't much you could do about smoothing out the skin.
I was taking the idea of 'advertisment' fairly seriously in evaluating these entries so I felt something like that was worth mentioning. If this was meant to be a casual portrait, I wouldn't have commented on it.

In terms of the relative prominence of the product, I still feel that the bottle of Aquafina might have been emphasized more strongly. Perhaps with sharper focus and being really choosy with selecting a perfect looking bottle---one that has no wrinkles in the label. A trick I recently read about for photographing water is to replace it with white vinegar which stays very clear and uncloudy.

My only other feeling about this image is that the color cast is a bit cool and could use warming up in Photoshop. Your brother's skin which I imagine to be a lovely warm, golden brown looks rather dull and grey, possibly because of the weather conditions at the time of shooting.

You captured a lovely, intelligent expression, a natural pose, and managed some nice catch lights in his irises.

Message edited by author 2004-08-20 14:47:26.

Burn DVD faster than ever !
by belette

Comment:
Where's the product? How can I know I want to buy it if I don't know what it is? You went for cleverness and seemed to have overlooked the fact that you are supposed to be selling a product.
I don't think the hypothetical clients would be too happy with an ad that didn't feature their product.
The photo is decent. The glove could be in sharper focus.

The Offer of the Hatmaker
by mannjudit

Comment:
The title doesn't sound much like advertising copy. I don't get it. The photo is very washed out and drab. If the hats are the products, they don't look attractive enough that I'd want one. For one thing, the hat on the person's head has grit and lint in the brim. The person's grizzled, dry, grey hair isn't too lovely either.

Absolut water
by Miinerva

Comment:
The blurry place setting in the background isn't too attractive. There is an area of blurry verticals just beyond that that I can't even figure out. The water isn't presented in an appealing way. It looks rather stale, just sitting there. Perhaps some ice to make it look more refreshing?

Just North of Everyday
by Grandmom

Comment:
The boy's lower lip bulging out over the rim of the can is really unappealing. It looks like his nose is jammed into the can. Next time, take a look at some actual soda ads and notice how they are posed.
The cropping is way too tight. I like the background.