The lightning isn't very good, the render quality and framing can both be a lot better.

I suggest to move the light between the car and the camera (or behind the camera) and not behind the car (which makes every detail blurry). Furthermore you could move the camera a bit so the framing is better...

You have a start here but IMHO that is just it.... sorry to sound very harsh but I hope you take what I said positive and make the necessarily changes (you still have time) and it isn't that much work / time you need for it. They are all technical matters and have nothing to do with the modelling itself.

A high res would raise your scores a lot author, I suspect this is a great entry (at least I like what I see here a lot). But without a high res it is really hard to vote on...

(you can upload a high res here: http://www.pxleyes.com/my-contest-entries/ and change your entry: upload the entry again and check the checkbox saying 'save high res'.)

This is such a great chop! The color purple / pink is well chosen, it works great.

One thing bothers me though: the blurry edges on the poles on the right side.
And maybe a small suggestion? The tree looks a bit like a heart on the top, what if the branches at the bottom go a bit inwards to make the heart shape illusion on the tree complete?

8:38... Kyricom you are too late, both are sold!

'I love the smell of old books in the morning' wrong quote, I know, but it is true. This shot brings up this smell

Good to hear you moved out of the ghetto and live close by the golf course now author

Great improvement, really excellent example of what this contest is about!

Author maybe you can give us a hint to where and what this memorial is? Besides more info on the image it might also clear up if this image is on theme or not

It's a great improvement, the light, the background...
Just the angle change I do not really like. But that could be my western look.

Let me explain:
I'm from Europe and used to read from left to right and that's how I learned to 'read' a photo (matter of fact any image) too. Due to the change in the angle the hands (a focal point in this photo) are closed to me, in your original photo they are open and therefor, to me, a much more friendlier angle to look at.

Author, how many times do we have to tell you smoking is bad for you (or maybe in this case others?)?

Great shot, the bright light from the bottom is very nice.

I like your idea, one never knows what an egg holds until it opens And a moneytree is always handy!

One advise though: the money bills all are in the same angle, putting them in different perspectives would make it more natural. Damn I have 1 advise more (sorry): the shadow of the tree is to dark and sharp compared to the shadow of the egg, you might want to make it more transparent and put a Gaussian blur filter over it.

Great entry!

But IMHO there's room for improvement... the stripes on the cat can be blended nicer (edges are to harsh) and a lack of a decent background which can be solved by a very blurred forest source or something like that. In short... I really really do like the head (don't even try to touch it anymore, it is perfect the way it is now. If you do: I have my ways to find you author ) but you can give the rest of the image some more attention.
Sorry if I sound harsh, that's not the way I intended it, trying to offer critique to improve this entry.

I like the emptiness in her expression, the realization of her despair. I hope for her that this is some re-enactment and not a daytime job. Great colors, great DOF!
I do hope though you still have a slightly larger version of this shot and you can still rotate and crop this photo a bit so the background is straight. It will also give the girl a straight back and with that more dignity.
I see to much in this entry don't I? Darn!
Great photo's always tell me a story and this one surely does tell me a story! Sometimes I wish our admin would also start writing contests based on entries, this photo would give some nice stories to tell.

Author can I give you a tip? I understand Photoshop is out of reach for a lot of people, but there is a free open source alternative for it: Gimp. http://www.gimp.org/ You can also find a lot of good tutorials around the net. IMHO its a better alternative over all the other free graphic software which is around.

Great entry, maybe you can take 5 minutes extra on it and remove the white pixels at the bottom of the hand? It's a final touch but will improve the image IMHO

I like the DOF, the focus on the girl who stands in the light (good catch!), I'd change just 1 small thing... I'd rotate the image about 1.5 degrees clockwise, that way the background wall becomes straight.

Nice improvement, although I'd say it is oversaturated on the bright green - yellow part (which actually gives away it is an HDR shot). If you could lower the saturation a bit it would improve the image more IMHO (but that's my opinion, feel free to disagree )

We are so sorry to hear this, we hope you find the strength to get through this time surrounded by family and friends.
Our thoughts will be with you.

Elke & Rob

or lower it

But that's up to you author, I do not want to tell what ppl MUST do, just give my opinion. In the end it is your entry and you should do what suits you best

I like this shot a lot, rule of thirds would have been a good choice I suppose.

The one day you get married and that is how your fingernails look like?

I disagree with all of the above!

Great blending, great find of sources and great thinking about the colors. This would be a species that would benefit from having colors which blend in the surroundings. Good entry!

Nice idea to turn 3 birds into one

There's some room for improvement though, the blending can be better and the parrots head looks a bit small compared to the rest of the body.

I like the overall idea even though, looking at the high-res, the blending can be a lot improved. You might take a small (3 pxl) soft blur brush, create a new layer (check the box on top: "sample all layers" and soften the edges. This way your sources will blend better. There's also a hard edge over the bird it self, you can get rid of that with a bigger soft eraser brush set to 20% and go over the edge multiple times. Might sound like a lot of work but it isn't and it will improve your entry lot.

You make friends with the admin entering this photo author

GRRRRRRRR how is anyone going to beat this author???

Maybe you can make the spider a bit lighter so we can see more details?

Overall great entry

Very nice, I suggest you add some shadows though.

one word: WOW

First of all welcome to PXL, I like this entry
First thing that came to mind was that a slight use of color can lift this entry (NOT to much!). If you want to color it: please do not color it with pencils but use soft pastels or (if you have it) an airbrush, that way you can make better gradients.
This is just my idea and you shouldn't do it if you disagree, it's YOUR entry after all

I suggest you read the rules and guidelines, you must, for instance, add a minimal of 2 steps in your SBS on how this entry was created. http://www.pxleyes.com/guidelines/drawing/

Good luck on your entry

3 cigarettes an hour...
that's my normal average, must be the stress from modding

to clarify this discussion author: this has to do with anonymity. Your photo's (of which one has been removed already) look too much alike which mean if someone votes on either one of your entries the other entry is not anonymous anymore and is therefor not allowed. K5683 refers to an old, double, rule which has been removed because it was covered by the, mentioned before, anonymity rule we have.

This may sound unfair but the anonymity is an important factor on this site. That's why mods also remove for instance entries from members which use a model which has been overused by that member and is recognizable by other member by now. In such a case the author isn't anonymous anymore either.

Hope this makes it clear to you.

From the goal: "Meaning for instance no miniatures of movie and television characters. "

great example of the contest goal!

Congrats on the win and being on the cover of the next edition of the EYE

Looks like Mrs. Bear ran away

http://www.pxleyes.com/photography-picture/4c535c956ae3a/Have-I-told-you-lately---.html

He should have told her more often...

Way better version then the first one author

Congrats on the win, deserved I have to add

just WOW! I'd like to order some prints.

As suggester of this theme: IMHO this entry is on theme, the purpose of mentioning the food was that it didn't got eaten (as stated), disallowing using food however was never my intention AND was not stated in the description.

Straighten the horizon and adjusting the contrast might make this entry better, but it's just my opinion and up to you author to try or not

You left the walls standing up... bit disappointing
Joking of course

Since it is a reflection it might be nice to post it as such, meaning rotating it 180 degrees. Would make it a better entry IMHO.

Looks better IMHO

Maybe crop the top a bit? The black line somehow closes the images on top, without it it's more open... (if you understand what I mean)
Great colors

NIce entry!
Maybe some attention-points? The dog looks a bit transparent, the orange chair is shining through and the back of the head (of the boy) is a bit to bright IMHO. For the rest: great entry, good thinking... in short:

Nice entry, maybe have a new look at the left foot again, it doesn't really blend well with the background, should be an pretty easy fix, NVTL: great idea and well blended between the finfers and the feet.

Nice shot but I think the DOF is too strong. in the high res there's hardly a single line in focus. Having a lower DOF would make this a better entry IMHO.

author maybe you can the contrast up a bit, might look nicer IMHO

Nice one and nice angle

Maybe with less softer colours it will speak out more? Bet she's making a hell of a noise, harder colours would fit that more I think
But it is up to you author, don't mind me; I'm known to ramble sometimes LOL

Author you might think about turning this BW and adjust the brightness-contrast darker, IMHO it will make the photo more intimate.

OK author I see your point, didn't mean bad with my comment.

Good luck with your entry