I get the impression that most of the art world suffers from that lack of differentiation in varying degrees. We get similar problems from the way that obscurity is often misused.

The eye tends to go where the sharpness is. In your shot there's more soft ripple than sharp ripple and the most eye-catching part is the metalwork above the gutter. All of that makes it difficult to discern what the intended subject is.

#6.

The basics of capture haven't changed. Concentrate on that and worry about the bells and whistles later.

You were criticising people who photograph unoriginal subjects and you likened that practice to embalming. I defended those people and that practice. There's much more that could have been said.

My view.
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The image I'm providing this week is derived from a raw file I sourced (legitimately) from the internet. Below is the original raw file plus a JPG and TIFF version.

Anything goes as far as editing. Add, manipulate, twist, crop, or create a fine piece of art. Please show us your editing that might improve the picture OR POSSIBLY create a piece of art using some of the latest software actions to create different effects. ANYTHING IS ACCEPTABLE. If you use some special software or action please let us know the software you used.

When you are finished, post your edit in this thread. Edits will be accepted until 9 pm Eastern time on Thursday. No edits will be accepted after that time, voting is done Thursday 9:00PM - Sunday 9:00PM. Voting will be for the one image voters like best.

Thank you for your efforts and participation.

Original NEF
Attached file:
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TIFF

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JPG

(Download)

The hat is too bright. Where shadows are concerned you can get some cues from the other stuff on the table like the spectacles case. Having shadows but getting them slightly wrong is better than not having any where there should be shadows.

#6.

Lots of interest here. In #1 I don't care for the car window framing the shot. It might have been better just zooming in on one or two of the H-shaped structures.

If high resolution is important to you, a large sensor is the way to do it. With a larger sensor the pixel size is less diminished.

#1 says style and quality whereas #2 - #4 say arty in different ways. You should choose whichever one you think best represents your output. I think I'd like #1 more if the camera was more easily recognisable.

Something tells me that pmsc the poet and pmsc the AI artist are going to be quite a dynamic duo.

It remains to be seen whether a straight edit or something more creative will prove to be more popular.

Thanks. Apparently all I gave it was a -1.6 rotate adjustment and a vertical stretch. If possible I use a vertical edge or corner at or near the vertical centre line to get the rotation right and then decide if it needs a vertical perspective adjustment. In this case I decided it didn't need one, which I confirmed by checking both the extreme left and extreme right vertical edges. My advice is to always do the rotation first and then the perspective adjustments if required.