Ok, so I'm aware that this would probably score better in Science, but I can't resist the temptation to enter it here anyway... 'Is science just another religion really?' is an interesting, loaded question. To which my answer would be - no, not at all, yes they start off from philosophically unjustifiable assumptions (beliefs) just like religion, but from there on the method makes a difference - science makes novel predictions and actively tries to disprove itself. Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to get a reaction out of people. Plus it's the best answer I have to the question 'What do you believe?'. Scientific realism.
Philosophy aside: the model is Georgi, and the letters and double helix are being projected onto her (and there's another light source on her left side). It's the first proper nude I've ever shot, and I'm really pleased with how it came out.
Editing: hue/sat, brightness/contrast, selective colour, curves. I had a more saturated level underneath a less saturated level, and I brought out the colours of the double helix using a layer mask. I also used two different layers with different brightness/contrast settings to try and make her hair stand out a bit more (it was extremely low key in the original shot). Other editing: removed a couple of spots using a healing brush, and did a small amount of dodging and burning at a low opacity setting. Oh, and usm and Neat Image.
Statistics
Place: 62 out of 311 Avg (all users): 5.7807 Avg (commenters): 6.5556 Avg (participants): 5.2222 Avg (non-participants): 6.0645 Views since voting: 4309 Views during voting: 458 Votes: 187 Comments: 21 Favorites: 4 (view)
Superb vision in creating this, lighting is excellent. What strikes me is the fact that you can't tell whether the model is a male or female, if intended, then well done. I find the photo does fit the challenge, although science is one part of the dichotomy. Religion and science are not mutually exclusive, both are needed to validate eachother.
Congratulations! You're the first person to take advantage of my newfound Critique Club status. Hopefully it'll be helpful, and feel free to reply with a critique of my critique!
Pros:
This is a fairly compelling image; the juxtaposition of images on the human body is a technique that always works in getting an emotional reaction from me, anyway. And I think your choice of image and the layout work well - the centered DNA and the coding. Obviously the voters liked it too, as you scored well above the challenge average of 5.32 and in the 80% percentile.
Cons:
For me there are three things that stand out: Skin tone, hair tone, and the relationship with the background. Colorwise there's something not quite 'right' with the skin and hair; both seem a little washed out; the hair in particular could use some additional lighting. It sounds like you did what you could with it, given the image you ended up with. And the way the body sits against the background looks almost "cut and paste" to me; I don't think it is, but the edges look off. Unfortunately I lack the expertise to recommend a solution!
The challenge:
This is a toughy, as you acknowledge in your notes. I'll approach the image's relationship to the challenge from three directions:
"How does it sit with me?" - I can tell you that as a scientist and atheist the conflation of science and religeon is a touchy subject, and had I voted on this one I would have been uncomfortable with the subject and title in this challenge (or in the science one! ;) )
"How did it sit with voters?" - clearly some controversy, as this has a pretty high voting spread, and several DNMC comments.
"How did it sit with you?" - this is really what matters, and from your description it sounds like you said what you hoped to say with it - and of this you should be proud!
Congrats on a great image, and thanks for the opportunity to critique it.
Your ones and twos are from either the "no nudes" crowd, or the "no science in my religion crowd". You done good with this - I'm paricularly impressed with the clarity of the projection onto an uneven surface, and the lighting and exposure is very nice!
I think this is very cool. And I think it fit the challenge perfectly. Well done! I'm guessing that the DNMC crowd wouldn't have been so harsh if the concurrent challenge was something other than science. Folks probably thought you put it in the wrong challenge.
Marvelous entry. Very creative and well executed. Should have scored higher. Those 1s, 2s, and 3s hurt the average pretty badly. I wonder if they came from angry fundamentalists? But look at all those high votes. I think it's fun that you chose Religion rather than Science.
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