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1st place
The place where stories and legends comes alive by Inkeri

allisontaylor: A wonderfully composed cottage. Seems a perfect setting for many tales and the various inhabitants that might reside there. I too wish I could see inside. A pleasure to view.

lilu103: Ohhh, this is a perfect fairy tale cottage! Thatched roof and everything! Love it :))) Best of luck!!!

Inkeri received a 2 month membership in the Caedes Cadre.

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2nd place
Night Dreams by coram9

Tootles: Well done on your placing in the contest... it was wonderful to see it there. :-)

purmusic: Bloody hell, that purmusic is harsh.

So..

You might be aware of the information contained in the following linked vid tutorial. If not, well grab a cuppa and have a look/listen..

Night street [16:51]


In and around the 5:33 mark in.. adding/adjusting light to light standards:

And a note on selective use of Volumetric light(ing) later on.


Couple of keyboard shortcuts noted as well, with respect to duplicating placement of objects, etc.. Viewed a few other vids on Geekatplay Studio- "Light In Vue Tutorials". Good good stuff? Maybe?

I am curious if you tried or thought of post processing your render in Photoshop. My pea brain immediately thought of using the Diffuse Glow filter for the fairies and that of the girl/woman. Just a thought.

coram9 received a 1 month membership in the Caedes Cadre.

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3rd place
Isle of Wanderers by Akeraios

dreamer100: Grass, bark and trees all truly lovely in natural texture and softness. It tells a story of isolation and quest even without your narrative. Good one.

Logun7: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.................

Outstanding work!! Best of luck to you in the contest:)

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4th place
Dragon at the Gate by Tootles

Akeraios: I don't know, I think he looks rather friendly actually. Just a bit bewildered at finding himself there. And that beady eye is probably just admiring the colored windows like me.

Logun7: Best of luck to you in the contest:)

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5th place
...in the Forest of Ever After... by lilu103

lilu103: Has anyone noticed what the squirrel and birds are eating? lol :D It's meant to be sort of a game to find all the added creatures so it's best downloaded so you can zoom in if you want to search ;)

purmusic: Nice work, Lisa.

And I can only imagine the creative time involved to composite an image as yours here.

Proportions/relative sizes and perspective for each of the animals, birds, butterflies, mushrooms.. are done well. And their placement within frame in the various visual nooks and crannies and overall, on the notes of Composition and that of Balance.. is good good.


Caveats?

The base forest image has some.. some, being the operative word ... exposure problems. In that some of the shadowed areas are just that. Details are blocked to a degree. What gives it away to my eyes is the Colour Balance leaning towards the cooler side of the spectrum (blues, magentas, et al.. a lil' bit more on this to follow).

Could be.. the White Balance setting selected in conjunction with how you set the Exposure for the scene.

Suggestion?

If your camera supports Auto-Bracketing.. shoot away to capture a few photos with the Exposure already changed automatically for you (or that of White Balance, ISO, etc..).

If your camera does not support Auto-Bracketing.. employ the Exposure Compensation option/function that I am sure your camera does have ... and shoot a few shots this way. Under/Over.. can then select the best or blend a couple (i.e. one is better exposed for the ground, one is better exposed for the sky).


Colour Balance.

As mentioned; the blues, magentas, etc.. are a bit more prominent.

Nothing wrong with this, nor to a large degree or extent.

My thoughts are that your image here is a great desktop/wallpaper for kids.. and adults that have not lost touch with their inner child.. and 'warmer' might be a tad better.

Suggestion?

Here you go, I simply googled these terms.. 'free Photoshop action Curves' and came up with these hits:

"Add-ons and Tools for Photoshop Elements" (the 'how to use actions' stuff can also be found on this linked page)

"30+ Must Have Photoshop Actions For Photo Touch-Ups"

... and a refinement with the search terms could probably produce better and more exacting results. (Russell Brown's site is quite good as well ... russellbrown.com ... might have to dig around though to find the stuff for older versions of Photoshop.)


Simply put (you may be aware of what actions do, I am merely elaborating here for the uninitiated), actions are preset various adjustments (could be Curves, Levels, and more complicated adjustments towards the end of a creative aim/technique ... i.e. 'vintage look').

A good good and fast way to edit your images, till 'you' (speaking generally here) become familiar with using the editing tools/options available to you. And many actions allow you to make further adjustments as they run.


Right, coming back to the point of 'warmer' colours.

Personal preference.

Well, add to that ... that 'we' attribute a 'feel and mood', given the overall colour palette that 'we' perceive. (<--- Think this is self-explanatory?)


Alllll that said..


Well done.. and best of luck with your entry here. :o)