Nice. Towers reflection should more closely match the color of the actual towers just as all the other reflections match their sources.

Cool. The low sun would stretch the shadow image, not compress it, however. (And I think that might also add to the drama of the image.) More challenging is figuring out how the rough surface of the water would distort the shadow falling on it.

Creative. The far side of the clasp tongue needs an edge (looks like it melts right into the body of the bag now). I have to agree with Widiar that the white background is not very interesting.

Cool! Foreground police guy needs stronger shadows under his feet to ground him in the scene IMO. Ditto for dead body albeit to lesser extent. Crime-scene tape along columns should be much narrower.

Interesting, but I don't know what the blue by the second column is. In hi-res, the high contrast of the people doesn't match the naturalness of the rest of the image.

It is lovely as Disco observes. But I also agree with CMYK46. Additionally, I don't get what that big U-shaped thing dropping off the hem of her dress at 6 o'clock is all about and how it fits into the geography of the hallway.

Odd, but yet kind of cool. I would consider converting the 'hanging' lamps to flush-mounted ones, however.

Pretty nice, but there are some reflection issues. The columns reflect quite crisply, yet the bright yellow caution tape barely reflects at all. The guy's reflection is properly a simple vertical flip of him from the waterline up with no scrunching, but that is not the case for the columns or side wall (and thus the ceiling and its hanging lights). [The back wall is OK.] Since the papers are submerged and the water surface is doing the reflecting, I would expect more mop-head reflection (not to mention mop-handle reflection due to all the dark-gray background it's against) given how much everything else is reflecting.

Need a clear break in the letters where the two covers meet -- as was done with the snowflake-thingy in the center (but with a recognition that the left-side-cover portion needs a shadow from the right-side-cover portion).

Very cute. But I don't think it links to the logo enough: eye is somewhat minor while logo emphasizes eyes; has arms while all three logo figures are armless. I like this as a new character, except I don't see that as the theme of this contest.

Nice. (BTW it should be Guidelines, unless you meant Rulers & Guide Lines).

Needs shadows to look realistic: cover shadows on album interior and on atlas, tassel shadows, ribbon shadow.

Slightly interesting but uniform, mid-day lighting offers no drama.

Very nice. And while perhaps obvious (turn on the lights and make it night!), it's not all that easy, especially when there are so many bulbs. Quibbles: What is illuminating the superstructure behind the contained elements holding the bulbs? What is in the center of the 'donut' [a back-lit cover would be good]?

Very creative to take a classic UFO-invasion image (which might otherwise have seemed too simplistic) and add a layer of content by making it a movie being screened. However, I wish the movie screen looked like it were parallel to the audience rows. And UFOs more uniformly arrayed (grid layout, for example) with uniform perspectives would be more threatening (think advancing army) -- although maybe your UFO movie has a different theme (but this moment from it is not compelling).

Interesting collage of multiple levels of lakes and their waterfront property in the clouds with snail fountains and sparkles all in an appealing color palette, but I guess I'm personally more into fantastical realism -- which is just me, so good luck!

Surface of a liquid is parallel to the ground. Thus we could be looking up a hill here, but then I would expect the flowers to seem to be leaning away from us slightly. Plus the pot base doesn't seem to be sitting on anything and the vines don't cast any shadows. [BTW there's a small vine inappropriately overlapping a big vine on the pot's left side.]

The moody muted colors are interesting. The perspective of the wine glass is off, however. We're looking up at the bowl of the glass while simultaneously looking down at the base of the stem. I would expect the ground cover to hide more of the base.,

I like the idea. It seems to require a brighter/sunnier environment, however: brighter sky, castle, and foreground with strong shadows cast by the towers and figures. I would use the shading on the assassin to determine the light direction and how to shade the rest of the elements. I think if Ms. Macgyver were using a belt buckle or had her compact out while powdering her nose, this would portray a moment of greater creative spontaneity on her part.

Right on target. The right-side shadow of the spaceship as well as the shadows made by the big circles atop the spaceship seem inconsistent with the other shadows. I think this might be a little more intersting if the green sheet's sides weren't parallel to the image sides (part of the green sheet could even fall outside the pic boundaries).

More is less. Shadow of left railing onto steps not reflected in lighting of woman. Pathway to castle disconcertingly seems to converge to nothing before reaching the castle. Far side of grassy berm on left could have a stronger edge. Mountains and moon background seems fake and at odds with the realistic foreground.

I think the Kingdom's shadow on the water should be stronger and the waterlines of the statues on the left and right sides should be more 3D-looking (curved, not just straight across).

Creative but it all seems pretty flat -- more 2D than 3D (contrary to the assertions in your SBS). The text in particlular has no 3D-like curvature (there's a filter for that ).

Cool. Like the expanded range of buttons presented, but the differing sizes are a bit disconcerting.

Truly awesome indeed! I can't believe you drew those with your mouse! I wouldn't apologize for any of it. I love the notion of making ordinarily passive buttons aggressive (except for the calming Home).

Shrinking the mermaid a little and moving her to the right a bit (Rule of Thirds) might start to address CMYK46's and serialkiller's valid concerns. Looking at the hi-res: The rock she is sitting on is lacking crispness while (possibly as a result) her butt edge is too sharp. The reflection of the end of her tail should be of its bottom (and follow a shadow-like path), not of its top [3D versus 2D].

Creative idea. Shouldn't the undersides of the tray and vases on the glass-topped foreground coffee table also be reflected in the water? Also, reflections are the same size as what they're reflecting. The desk-lamp and TV reflections shouldn't squish and the floor-lamp reflection should be more than 18 inches high, for example. [Put stuff on a mirror to see how reflections work.] BTW a dark floor is really needed to get a reflection.

Great concept, but I wish the blocks looked like they were resting on a tabletop.

Very dramatic except for the eyes: the far one seems blind, the near one seems demonic (which could work if the far eye matched it).

Very nice mood except the upper right corner may be too cheery.

Cool idea, but the ground seems too tilted upward (plus top of bottom slab doesn't appropriately match its bottom) and the vertical background seems too close (and so why doesn't the bottom half cast some shadow as the top half does?).

If you used your own photos, then you have to provide an SBS even aside from this contest's mandatory requirement to provide an SBS.

Nice concept, but the tiny steps at the top of the image don't really match Papa's big butt. Also the right-side railing's shadow that nearly covers the stair steps is at odds with the lighting of the upper two figures. And the left railing seems higher than the right railing which is unexpected.

Cool idea, and distressing the left-side railing edge is a nice touch. But the shadow created by the skateboarder is not consistent with that created by the right-side hand rail. I like the graffiti, but it doesn't feel as if it's 'on' the wall [too intense], especially at the grout line between the blocks. I think more, and maybe more colorful, graffiti would add a lot -- and might even be a more compelling focus, relegating the skateboarder to a secondary role.

In your background source, the splash reflection is remarkably clear, so I would use that as the cue for how to treat your beer bottle. Thus I think the bottle reflection just outside of the splash reflection could actually be a tad stronger, but keep it weak at the bottom edge of the image in recognition of the fall-off of the splash reflection in your source. Also, I think the C-shaped distortion where the reflection edge is disturbed by the ripple should really be more L-shaped, i.e., a disconnect in the reflection on the near side of the ripple.

ponti55 is correct that the water has to be fairly placid to produce a reasonably recognizable reflection. I'm also not getting what light source is illuminating just the mermaid and her pedestal.

...and that reflection is of the bear's underside.

Very fun!

Very cool with some nice touches regarding the label treatment. The white area in the lower right corner strikes me as a reflection of the sky above the green landscape in the background. If that's the case, then the bottle is in front of that background and thus it's reflection should be complete and not encroached upon (except maybe in a ripply sort of way at the edge) by the white sky reflection. Note how the splash reflection takes precedence over the sky reflection.

I'm a believer now!

Nice reflection, but the perfectly straight waterline looks fake. Having the water level come up to her arm would allow you to draw a 3D waterline while also resolving the "partly in the water" issue clearly in your favor.

Cute, but her smoke seems identical to his and doesn't waft up beyond the edge of the image as would be expected.

Pretty nice. The "10 o'clock" brightness on the exterior shells is nicely matched by the "10 o'clock" shadow on the interior symbols -- but then the "4 o'clock" shadow on the interior symbols doesn't make sense

Very interesting presentation concept, but I don't know what the browser buttons are.

Not sure what the T-shirt means, but the buttons are very appealing and I could see how someone into sewing would really like them on their browser.

Quite nice. However, I kind of feel that if the bear disappeared but its waterline remained, that waterline would seem to be on a different plane than the concentric waves emanating outward from the bear. [BTW I think the Matthew Stewart background pic you found would be a great addition to anybody's files as an example of how reflections work.]

The reflection shouldn't be skewed, so for example, the mouth reflection should be straight down from the actual mouth. As Chalty669 alluded to, you overlooked the reminder in the contest description that "a 3D shape in water needs to have a 3D cuttingline where it hits the water." The front legs aren't flat, so the water line around them should curve, etc.

Dramatic yet serene. Not clear how the moon managed to get in front of clouds.

The surface of the water should be parallel to the stair treads we're looking down at. If the water came all the way up to the second step down, then the edge of the water would follow the faint line that starts at the left edge of that step and continues up (literally up as you face the pic) the left railing. Note that the water would then touch the railing's top edge right where you show water lapping. Ergo, you should be showing water covering the stairs all the way up to the front edge of the second step.

Cool, although I'm personally more drawn to SBS Step 10 (maybe with tower moved to right in accordance with the Rule of Thirds).