No disadvantage at all bijouchat - I could have put the reflections in via postwork and in fact did at one point, but I disliked the effect and chose to remove them. As I chose to remove the plants I had added as well. I found them to be distracting from my point of the image. As for the comments regarding the need for horizontal lines - why? I could have draped ivy but that would have defeated that I had specifically removed the top of the image to imply a heavenly infinity . Woman is centered as a power point between the vertical columns which imply a grounding as there is intentionally no ground or background other than the heavens. But you see all of that is my poespective of what I was intending for the image. I'd have to check but the camera angle was at 150mm and angled out and down a bit (just slightly I didn't want to actually be looking "in" the pool). My uncle was a professional artist for many years and worked for years as the Arizona Highways magazine cover artist. My father was a dabbler as was/is my mother. Doesn't mean much, only that I grew up around it. I have my own critic anyhow, a grumpity (is that truly a word lol) older woman who was an artist for a NY advertising agency back before women were accepted in that line of work. Man, she can be brutal! but I know her and respect her opinion. To be honest - anyone who views an image is a critic. As for this image the version on my site (which is slightly different) has actually already been sold today as a print within a few hours of my posting it - so someone must like it (although they are a regular buyer...). And all who view images are critics anyhow. I simply have an issue with anyone who suddenly appears and takes apart every image with comments enabled (it explains why so many gallery images today had the comment option turned off) and claims he's a professional. Many images I viewed earlier that he commented on have now had their comments turned off - but not once did he leave a comment that an image was good. Then he comes here and says he'll critique upon request...

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I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
-Galileo