This is cool.. but it has put your other entry in a problem of anonymity.. Good Luck..

nice work author.. but right now there are alot of other elements in the pic than the alphabet.. IMO it would be cool if you can get a closer shot at 'A'.. Good Luck.

beautiful, lovely letter

just nasty...simply nasty...good shot though

i first that love it . GL.

I second that YUCK!

Good shot! The projected shadow was a nice touch. GL!

Gross yuk!

Nice sentiments, good shot and keep this pretty precious thing with you always.

Sorry author, have been out of state traveling for a few days, yes, you have the lighting definition spot-on...by placing a light that opposes the main light, you can really bring out the sparkle of a gemstone, look at advertising photos of gems in magazines and such and you will see great clairity and sparkle and almost in all caes no shadows, the shadows actually darken some of the facets and dull the gem...hope that helps, just experiment to find the best mix.

I agree with low-key photos, as they are a favorite of mine to shoot, but in this case, your lighting is a bit off as the knife on the left totally blends in with the surface and is lost. Nice try, just experiment with your lighting a bit more in the future

great work.

Ahhhh that explains it. Still love the shot.

Great thinking and photo. Might bump up the brightness just a tiny bit. Unfortunately, I can't read your language so I don't know what the shadow is emphasizing, but I love the thought and idea. GL

I like the shadow. Just would have like to see more color out of the gem.

spot on with the lighting, that is exactly what it is.........non directional means no directional shadows, even spread of light etc.

I agree with the lighting comment, but a nice shot all the same

nice gem

Author, although it's well composed...to really bring out the great lighting qualities of a gem-stone it's much better to use a non directional lighting pattern to make the really sparkle...just a hint to try for a future shot.

How sad

hrmmmm.... we don't need that in our town (of course we DO own a great big dog )

Ox Rocks! nicely done

Cool. Might have liked a little deeper DOF

Not so ugly...

Here's a tip.Turn your focus to manual & with the lights on , focus on the fuse of the candle.Spot metering (so the camera gets light from the flame when you turn the lights off & you will have high shutter speed to "freeze" the flame)Turn the lights off & here you are...Try it & you will see that it's easy....

It's so simple yet so well focused. GL!

Gud idea & effort. Lovely.

O.K.

Congrats for your first place, Shikyo!

"Try to capture the beauty of the eyes "

very cool

Definitely looks caught off guard.

i agree the hair adds a lot!!

nice

good shot!

bravo

nice

nice

It is quite cool how it came out like that and even fits the theme better. GL!

great shot

well done!

That's kinda creepy!

great contrast

Nice

I like the shadows on the ground...It look almost the same...

Ha ha looks like the lady is having fun!

technically, this is a wild animal.................lol...........

Nice try, however me thinks bird gets of the ground first