Should I enter this one? or....

.. or this? (And should I keep or lose that dratted seagull?)

Bottom one, if you can remove the sort of "ripple" from the sky. The sky in the top looks like it is badly stretched out, also maybe reduce the ambience in the shoes or find a different texture? They look too flat as it is now. Also in the water it looks like there is too much noise. Try reducing the frequency.

Diolma; I can't give you a specific reason why (sorry) but I believe the image would look better if you raise the gull above the horizon line. Oh, and I like the first one best.

This is not my "second childhood". I'm not finished with the first one yet.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

"I'd like to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather....not screaming in terror like the passengers on his bus." - Jack Handy

I like the darker tones of the second one. I agree the dark part of the sky needs some work. The section across the top of the image seems to be too straight to be clouds but the whole effect doesn't really look like rain either. I'd keep the darkness there, just tweak it some...make it look more cloud-like or rain-like. I like the position of the shoes and socks now. The socks are a bit bright I think but that should be an easy ambience fix, if so desired. (or make a sunray lighting them up? :o) ) Very nice work! :o)

Yeah, I think eelie has a great idea of having a ray of sun shining on the shoes, it would help define the center of focus for this image.

Thx all! I'll definitely have a go at moving the gull, just to see.. Actually there is a light shining on the socks, but it radial and kind of dim (it was left over from my initial attempt at getting the socks to "fall" correctly). Maybe I can change it to a light cone. The "dark clouds" are just a huge cylinder with the "smog" effect attached (but NOT volumetric - I couldn't get that to work properly). Maybe if I swivelled the cylinder... Hmm. As for the "stretched" look of the clouds - I've been staring at this for so long now that I just hadn't noticed it! (time to play with frequency etc..) Thx again for all the suggestions. It's SO difficult for me to pin down problems when I'm so familiar with the image.. Cheers, Diolma

I like the first one... really.The dark clouds kind of put a gloom mood to an otherwise nice scene. Unless you use a terrain for the cloud instead of a sphere. Shoes seem awful big though. Good work

"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions."

I have no idea what book this is, so I don't quite know what you're going for. That said, I vote for the second one. It brings a mood that seems to fit the emptiness of the socks and shoes. Good luck!