I think that if you photoshopped them more they would be ribbon worthy.
Sorry, I couldn't resist. ;D
But truthfully, they are kind of plain. Not a lot of POP to them. What were you tryin to convey?
ROFLMAO. :-D
I did a fair amount of PSing on the pouring image (which just goes to show you can't resurrect a poor shot!). The second just had some levels/etc.
I agree with you saying there's not a lot of pop.. I was hoping for a much crisper pouring shot, but I couldn't get a wide enough DOF on the jug. The second came out roughly as I wanted, but I agree it's relatively flat an uninteresting. I tried increasing the contrast fairly heavily, but it seemed to make the image look quite harsh (with the dark top-left).
Maybe try it with a different background...something with some color. That might break up the plainness. Maybe black or a blue.
Just an idea.
I agree about trying color. Pouring it into something w/ color, through something colorful. Lighting the subject from below (either pure light or through a filter) may give it some drama/pop. Maybe putting a goldfish in it (or does that break the rules, too?)
Pual don't give up, your abergae is better than a lot of people.
I too had a poor run - 3 4's in 3 challenges, after that I vowed to think more and more to never get a 4 again, and thus far it's worked.
After getting regular 5's I then decided to concentrate even more and try to get my average up to 6 (more important to me than a ribbon) to show some consistantcy, now have all 6's bar one in the last 6 challenges, with veichals dropping to a low 5 and macro II at 6.6.
So just think a bit more, and try lots of stuff.
Good luck and keep submitting, your images are good!
