Round 5 Theme: Monochromatic
Winner: Caimura Rathe and #Team Ty
Critiques
Marik:
Caimura Rathe of Balmung:
Red! So you chose red… I get such a red velvet cake vibe, so rich! I love it! This is such an amazing shot, from the lighting, to the background and your glamours! You never cease to amaze me so far in this competition and this is such a fabulous time to strut your stuff! Even though you have surrounded yourself in red, you easily pop out and are the main focal point. I love how well your eyes and lipstick pop so beautifully against your red scheme. Everything is coming up roses… red roses! And I love’em! Keep up the amazing work.
Katarh Mest of Lamia:
Yellow! Hmmm… like a lemon cake in a lemon sprinkle heaven, so sweet, tart, and tasty! Yum! (I’m so sorry for the continued food puns, but I’m on a roll… a sweet roll!) I’m just… wow! This shot has to easily be one of my favorites this round. I adore not only how cohesive your glamour is with this shot, but the vast depth of your background choice as well as the most beautiful natural lighting I’ve seen in such a long while! Your dark skin pops so well against your glamour as well as your scenery! This is just such lovely glow against a beautifully painted scene. Someone is definitely walking on sunshine, and it has to be the kitty!
Kimberlynne Highwind of Malboro:
White! Frosty, glacial, clean, sweet… Powder sugar freeze, on top of a fluffy angel cake! ::shivers:: I’m thoroughly and shockingly impressed by this particular shot! I never thought in ENTM history I’d ever see shadowed shading on a model work for a shot… but it does! Your background is so white and bright, that you actually needed some kind of darkened against you to pop against such a bright background, and it works! This just astounds me and I’m just so flabbergasted. Love the choice of glamour, especially your weapon; it helps accentuate you even further against your background. Just really impressed with this shot. I think you might be floating high on cloud nine!
Lior Xanthos of Gilgamesh:
Red! More red eh? Fiery, cinnamon-y, something spicy and hot! Like flame candies or blood peppers, hawt! I really appreciate the action type shot here, it’s very interesting and such a severe angle, but I’m not entirely sure it’s all that cohesive. I see bits of red here and there, but over all I’m not sure it’s all pulled together correctly. It’s hard to see all of you with the angle of your character in the actual shot, but I really do like the battle effect going on here; it helps focus your character a little bit. Make sure to have a clear shot of yourself, so you can pop and be amazing! Sizzle and pop, full of fiery passion!
Sangriah Valere of Excalibur:
Beige, brown, beautiful! Something baked, cookies, cakes? Cinnamon rolls? Either way it’s a delicious show! I really love what is going on in this shot. Playing secret sharp shooter agent ehh? I actually love the lighting as well going on here, it’s like a spot light has been shone on you and you might have been caught! Keep your guard up, and stay on target! You really pop so nicely against your background as well as how well you blend in to the wall as well, all stealth like! Glamour choice is rather spot on as well, just love the whole shot. Warming and sharp, I see this shot shooting through the stiffest of hearts!
Flare:
Wanted to start out by saying everyone SLAYED this week! Pretty much love all of these photos and it was very hard to actually rank them. As always, this is a good thing!
Caimura Rathe: Never trust a grinning Lala in front of a sinister red backdrop. It looks like you are about to perform some kind of ritual and I love it! This picture is defiantly an eye catcher that keeps us guessing.
Katarh Mesh: Was this taken with the new filters? It looks amazing regardless! This picture brings a certain calmness and warm feeling. Wouldn’t be awesome to live in a world where there was an eternal sunset that looked this gorgeous?
Kimberlynn Highwind: Snowy pictures like these are always beautiful. Looks like a gentle white mage becoming one with nature once more. The effect your staff is giving off is quite nice and the shadow from the tree just adds to it.
Lior Xanthos: Simple background, but I can instantly tell this the bowl of embers. What sold this for me was the effortless action pose in conjunction with the instanced lighting. This is a great one!
Shayera Tano: You kind of look like a sky pirate about to score big on some treasure. This is a nice picture that you stand out in in a good way. The metallic works well with the background and lighting, makes you glow a bit and brings the attention to you.
Masha:
Bastien Felicieux of Balmung
The location works great, but I think the time of day could have been chosen better here to match the monochrome colours more. The light gives a lot of very yellowy overtones that don’t let the actually colours shine through well. The pose feels a little bit odd, I am not sure if profile was the best choice here, the Elezen physique relay comes through here, making your head sooo tiny – and on top it’s being obscured by your hair.
Gangly Zilla of Cactuar
A beautifully harmonic picture, and definitely one of my favourites this week! The effect plays into the palette of blue very well and you fill out the picture while still keeping focus on yourself. There is something wonderfully serene about it that keeps my attention. Very well done!
Iris Dawnshade of Hyperion
Very pretty, the soft blues are calming, yet with the light and shadows there is some depth to the picture. I wonder if the off centre is needed here though, as I am not sure it brings much to the picture itself. I love the pose and expression, and I guess the glamour is thematically appropriate but on a personal note I just cannot bring myself to ever like that set. XD On further observation the angle from below seems almost a bit too harsh, at least with this level of zoom. Still, a very beautiful picture, well done!
Jester Ehrenfeld of Balmung
This one made me smile, such a cheeky and clever idea. The colour composition is great! I find it a little bit too static though, there are a lot of emotes and maybe different sitting poses you could probably pull off to make it a little bit more interesting. Good job on thinking outside the box though!
Mackayla Lane of Balmung
Very smart idea to work with your skin colour so much! Watch out for the light source though, because it really watches out a lot of your front. Similar to Isis, I am also not sure what the off centre does for you here, because the right side feels very barren. Your pose is slightly awkward as well, because I cannot quite decipher what you are trying to portray.
Nadede Lasalle of Hyperion
Colourwise this is definitely on point and a very creative way to probably use the most annoying weather ever. Sadly, I am largely put off by your pose. It’s a very awkward freeze frame from an awkward angle – I spy you, panty shot! This is probably a pose that would have worked better from a more profile-ish angle. Clipping into gear cannot be avoided, but it can be concealed as well, don’t forget!
Shayera Tano of Faerie
Very nice colours and your attention to detail is apparent. But this was similar to a few others this round where my eyes locked onto a flaw that shifts the entire balance of the picture for me. In your case, it’s the hand/ arm. It’s oddly clipping into itself and proportionally just looks wrong to me. And I cannot even quite pinpoint why. Aside from that, watch out for your lighting source being too close to you, because it threatens to wash you out a bit.
Eldaena:
Gangly Zilla – You’re on fire…! Er…water? You know what I mean! This is spectacular. I really love this screenshot because of how peaceful, yet powerful you look. The only thing that looks a tiny bit weird is the tail, but I know there isn’t anything that can be done. It’s not too often that I want to make the ENTM screenshots as my personal background on my computer, but this week, you and Katarh really impressed me. Amazing work, and keep it up!
Mackayla Lane – This is really beautiful. I feel like your character is doing some kind of meditation/yoga poses in a secluded area. I like the lighting, and you hit it with the monochromatic. The texture of the stone wall is also interesting to look at. Great job!
Iris Dawnshade – This too has a peaceful vibe to it. The colors are nice and I like the pose. The only critique I really have is how simple it is, and since it’s mainly sky in your background, the left bottom mountains are a tiny bit distracting. Still pretty though, so we’ll see you next week!
Nadede Lasalle – I like your color scheme! Your pose was pretty interesting too. Nice job getting all of your character in the shot. I like the castle-ly thing in your background too. I feel like the trees and the stone/hill to the left is breaking up some of the monochromatic a bit, but overall I still really like the shot. Good luck!
Jester Ehrenfeld – So cute! I like the idea, and having your eyes closed makes me feel like you’re trying to grow! lol The lightning isn’t super dynamic, and the plant textures aren’t the best (fix the grass SE!), but I still think your shot was really cool and creative. Keep up the good work!
Shayera Tano – This is really pretty too. Everyone did such a great job this week! I’m really impressed. The metallic blue you chose looks really stunning in this shot. You look majestic, keep up the good work!
Bastien Felicieux – I like that you’re trying to get a unique pose with the spell and all the neat particle effects. I think you could have used a bit better lightning on your face area and capturing a different part of the spell sequence since you look a bit like you’re in pain here. Otherwise, cool theme!