DaveU

Pity you didn't include all of the ruffle under her left elbow, and the background lets this down a little for me.

Still well worth a vote though ...............

A well worked and vibrant image ..... the girl really does stand out well from the background in an almost 3D manner. Please excuse a little niggle though as the reflections in the wet paving material don't stack up with what's going on in the sky, especially noticeable being those red streaks just above centre on the right. If I were you I'd maybe remove the colour from that part of the image just so the reflection discrepency is less apparent.

Niggle apart another fine piece of work though .........

V2 certainly the better version and it all looks so much better in BW ..... the tones are good, it's moodier and there's just so much more cohesion between the different elements of the image. The face lets it down a little for me but I understand why you've included a glimpse of something beyond the door. Maybe the doors should be open a little wider so more of the figure and it's surroundings could be hinted at? How about a subtle layer of swirling ground mist as well?

The figures I like very much but I'm not personally convinced that they work too well with that particular background. I'm just imagining a wild wind-swept moor, the moon riding high on a stormy sky and a ribbon of moonlit road leading to a gothic mansion in the middle distance.

Old romantic that I am ............

...... you've also missed a bit between the rifle stock and body of the lead soldier, there's a white bit showing

I think it needs a bit more work Nick and definitely agree that a mono conversion is the way to go, if only for consistency with the rest of the series. Maybe move the girl across to the right a touch so that she's partially obscuring the door-frame for a bit of added depth? And the doors don't look quite right to me, would they look better opening out toward the girl rather than inward? And should there maybe be a peek or a hint of something beyond the door if it's sinister that you're going for?

Just a few random thoughts .........

I'd maybe like to see a little less at the top of the frame and a little more over to the right to include all of his left elbow ...... this is delightful though

Funny to read your description Nick as from the thumbnail I thought this was indeed one of Janet's.

It's a well assembled image and obviously very personal to you and your family. The narrative does indeed make for a most interesting read ..... brave young men one and all just born in the wrong place and time. There but for the grace of god and all.

The background suits the objects and theme really well but if I had to niggle (and I know you would expect nothing less) then I'd say that for me the framed photo is a little too square-on to the viewer. Angle it slightly away from the viewer on an oblique and this IMO would look more convincing and add depth to the image. Also, to me the goggles don't sit too convincingly on the frame .... they look superimposed rather than actually hanging there in real life. That said I can't quite put my finger on why they don't look quite right. Maybe just angling them away from the viewer would help in this respect too?

Move him diagonally back so he's obscuring the yellow car, reduce his size so the scale looks right with his surroundings, flip him horizontally through 180 degrees so he's looking toward the front car and the light on his face looks correct considering the size of the window on the right, and create a subtle and consistent shadow to ground him into the scene.

Where was this taken if you don't mind me asking .... looks like a fab building

A massive improvement for me Nick ...... you've simplified it by using the water instead of all those rocks and the slightly lower viewpoint works well too. The back of the jacket needs toning down as you say, plus you might want to play around with the exact location of the girl. Maybe bringing her down onto the horizon between water and cloud and moving her a little to the left would improve the composition. It's developing well though.

I can almost feel his pain poor bugger ... if you're not careful you'll be as miserable as me soon Dave.

I loved that building last time you used it and still do. Just thinking that the "guys" legs need a hint of shadow to anchor him down into that sandscape though.

It's a fine idea Jan but with stuff like this you've really got to make it as realistic as possible. It's no good the casual viewer glancing and thinking "that's clever" .... you've got to convince the more critical viewer to sit back and think "that's clever". The shadow is wrong as a real shadow would run obliquely away from the object following the direction of the light source until it strikes the wall, then it would run vertically up the wall. So you need to select the shadow from where it strikes the wall and use the distort tool to pull it upright. Fiddly but worth it to convince the eye. Old Granny U was a stickler for attention to detail when she did her digital manips

Yeah the cutting out on the left most hand is a little crude but I don't care ....love the imagination and colour-fest.

Certainly catches the eye Pete ..... nicely put together and good to see the original components. The texture overlay works well and gives a nice painterly look to the sky. Just thinking it perhaps needs another element .... maybe some birds wheeling away in the sky just to finish it off?

High impact shot Nick and definitely mean and moody. Fine mono conversion and the sky really does add to the mood. I'd love to see another version with you stood a little more to the left so as to get those wheels on more of an oblique angle.

IMO HDR is better suited to interiors. The problem here is that the tone-mapping has sucked a lot of contrast out of the sky and introduced halo artifacts around the tree branches. Landscapes for me are better done with ND grads or by merging two exposures, one for sky and one for land.

As a photograph it's quite "ordinary", sort of family snap rather than fine art. Which is fine.

What lifts this pic and attracts my attention is the beauty and poise of that young lady and the lovely colour of her hair. She's very photogenic and worth taking a little more time and effort with. Find a more neutral and less distracting background, get in a bit closer and play with more artistic crops. She's worth it

She's a fab model and I do so like that dreamy background. Better for me with a touch more space beneath her tootsies though?

Love the model/makeup, background wallpaper and lighting. Not totally convinced about the PS work to stick the two bodies together though. Others may disagree but I'd rather see two separate shots, one with the skull and one with the roses. All that said, it's refreshingly different and a fine first upload. Welcome to the madhouse

Textures and tones are lovely, as is the light picking out the broken fence-posts and seed heads of the grasses. I'm not totally convinced about your crop though as I feel that the image doesn't have the visual impact that it could or even should have. Maybe worth playing with a tighter crop to position the fence posts more off-centre and make them more of a focal point.