May PhotoWorks Contest Voting

some nice subtle shadows this time and attention to materials...though I thought some of the compositions were a bit 'stiff'... for instance image 2 may be could have had a diff visual focus than the middle x and impact if one of the lighters was back to front and at an angle so to be resting on the table too. no 1 showed potential but somehow the exploded view didn't compliment the other one visually...I think it was the shadows and the parallelness...perhaps if the exploded one was rising off the table at an angle and turned about the long axis a bit it would seem a bit more dynamic vs the zero gravity look. image 5 doesn't seem to have matched perspective to the background esp well and could have done with slightly rounded corners on the pack...also the background has a far bit of diffuse lighting so the lighting of the model doesn't quite look right at the moment....also if you are trying to sell lighters the wording on the pack isn't helpful :o)...but it was the best effort to present the product in a setting.
don't be put off by my harsh crits though people - all good entries :o) and I may or may not have voted for one I mentioned above... though of course my lips are sealed...

The first thing that strikes me is that no one opted to try to depict flame, which is the most obvious and interesting source of light available with a lighter. Or for that matter the glow of the end of a cigarette.

Ladies and Gentlemen.
I have made a terrible mistake and feel awful about it. Early this month I received and entry for the May contest and misfiled the images. When I posted the voting page last evening I forgot to include these images. I have updated the voting page with he new images and to be fair to everyone I'm wiping the voting slate clean.
If you have already voted for your favorite images please go back and vote again after viewing the newly added images. If you haven't voted please visit to vote. I'm sorry if this causes an inconvenience to anyone voting and I'm very sorry to the individual who's images I initially didn't post.
Rob Rodriguez

grumble....

Rob, I note that sometimes a person submits a couple of variations under the same image no. can we vote for all images separately in future i.e. 4a or 4b...?

Sure, we can do that. I'll just have to be more organized, as you can see I've had an issue with that lately.
I'm also in the process of setting up a discussion board at the site so we'll be able to post threads and discuss different topics and images. Hopefully this will help promote the sharing of thoughts, ideas, information and help further the learning process which is the true intention of the contest.
I appreciate the feedback (or opinions) you gave on the images earlier. It's always interesting to hear someone else's thoughts. Rendering is very subjective and a collection of comments about an image can totally make the author of the image re-think their entire creation strategy. Again, furthering the learning process and an area where a discussion board could be well used.
Rob