Photographer: Unknown
Location: Unknown 

Tire tracks on this young girls face really screams to viewers to show some respect for cyclists. Focusing on her face and blurring out the rest of the photo forces viewers to focus on what message is trying to be sent in this PSA.  Her being so young appeals to the emotions in a much more intense way than if it were an older adult. Combining childlike innocence with a gruesome message is sure to leave a lasting impression on viewers. The photographer did a good job in giving the photo a more serious tone as far as colors go. The bland colors give a sense of seriousness that accentuates the importance of this PSA. 

Photographer: Unknown
Location: Unknown

"She's only 42 and she looks like that?" Making the viewer initially think this will pull them in to take a closer look so that they can figure out what's wrong with this photo. Once you see the cigarette she's lighting from the candles, the message instantly clicks. This ad/PSA combination is particularly powerful because so many people are obsessed with their appearance that seeing this ad will hopefully be a wake up call that says : "if you keep smoking, this is what your 42 will look like." I love that the photographer paid extra attention on accentuating the woman's skin texture. It really solidifies the message that's being sent.

Photographer: Unknown
Location: Unknown

This PSA really throws it in viewers faces just how disgusting doing meth can be. By using such a gruesome photo, it really captures the attention of viewers. Once they read the message, it sends a powerful vibe of why you shouldn't do meth. Since people are so worried about their appearance, this PSA hits the nail on the head on why you shouldn't do meth. I really like the small element that is next to the "You'll never worry about lipstick on your teeth again." It's a great entry point to draw the eye to the message and it doesn't distract from the impact of the photo.

Photographer: Unknown
Location: Unknown

This PSA highlights the fight against domestic violence and sexual assault. All of these NO MORE PSA ads feature celebrities, which creates credibility and allows for a more effective message to be sent through the media since most viewers will recognize the person immediately. The black and white scheme with the blue accents creates a sense of seriousness and importance of the PSA, which is extremely appropriate and effective considering the kind of message this ad is trying to send.

Photographer: James Bastable
Location: Stonnall

James was able to capture the elegance and simplicity of this product by using a dark backdrop against the dark bottle. This shot looks professional, especially with the reflection of the product underneath of itself. The only thing I would work on is the cap of the cologne. It's a little too shiny and glarish, it really takes the attention away from the name of the product. If the cap had softer light like the bottle has on it, I think it would really refocus the viewers attention on the name of the product, which is ultimately what you want when doing a product shot.

Photographer: Insomnia Graphics
Location: Oregon

Retouching a photo can really help brings out the natural beauty that can sometimes be trapped in a natural photo. By highlighting the different tones of the model's skin, there's more color and drama added, she no longer just looks as if she's one shade. By touching up the model's skin, her face has also been given more attention and would now be considered one of the main focus points. Her hair has also been giving a little more life by accentuating the different highlights, tones and shadows that needed a little help showing themselves. The model's touched up skin also helps her separate from the background, which gives the photo a little more depth than it originally had.

Photographer: Redfrost Photography
Location: West Midlands

The photographer for this product shot went with a close up angle in order to show the detail and intricacy of the face of the watch. Having the watch fade on either side gives a sense of professionalism, mysteriousness and elegance. Keeping the watch off center makes the shot more captivating and could also double as a good advertisement if need be. The photographer also did a wonderful job in controlling the lighting. With a light source coming from above and the watch being made of metal, it can be difficult to avoid areas being blown out or having too much of a glare. But the photographer did just fine in tweaking the levels of their lighting. It's just strong enough to give the watch a stylish and business like feel.

Photographer: Lee Morris
Location: USA

Beautiful levels, great angle and awesome lighting. I especially love the lighting in this model shot because it's neither too harsh or to soft. It's just right, and it helps create good texture in the models hair and highlights the tones of her skin. The earring is a nice subtle element that's been highlighted slightly just to create a point of interest without stealing the attention away from the main focus of the model. The only thing I would like to see is more highlights brought out in the models hair and eyes.

Photographer: Alysha Nett
Location: California

Although this photo is too centralized, it helps that the model has her head angled down a bit. It gives more visual interest and takes of the edge of weirdness since she's staring right at the viewer. A rather smooth looking shot, the dots on the models hands and face helps create some kind of much needed texture. The only thing I would suggest for this shot is to back up a little more so that the models elbow aren't cut off and are instead included in the photo. Right now, the model just looks like she has floating arms. They need to be anchored to something to bring back the naturality of the human body. Cut off joints are never good in professional photography.

Photographer: Oldenburgh Photography
Location: Minnesota

My favorite aspect of this photo restoration is the fact that Oldenburgh was able to bring life and focus back into the boys eyes, which gives the viewers eyes a central point to focus on and will help draw the initial attention. I also love how you can see more of the texture on the boys shirt, overalls and hair. The image no longer looks flat since the photo restoration has created a better sense of separation from the boy and the background. Even though this photo isn't a complex one, Oldenburgh was able to add subtle complexity to the after photo by bringing out the shadows and highlights of the boy, which add much more interest than what the before photo had.

Photographer: Kristine Ridley
Location: USA

I love this portrait shot Kristine captured and enhanced. There's tons of texture, depth, movement and emotion. Keeping the background out of focus allowed for a great sense of depth to take over the picture. The model's wind blown hair gives movement to the photo and creates a comfortable path for the eye to follow from left to right. Even though the model is close to being centered in the photo, the movement of her hair allows her to look as if she's slightly off center and standing more to the right, which gives the photo more visual interest. It's apparent that Kristine enjoys color editing, because the model's hair is so complex (in a good way) in the tones and shades of her hair. There are shadows, highlights, lowlights, reds, oranges, and yellows. Kristine captured a beautiful and silly moment in time that incorporates things that every photographer loves to see.

Photographer: Kristine Ridley
Location: USA

Kristine was able to take a very special moment and emphasize the emotion in it. By correcting the colors and working with levels, shadows and highlights, she was able to put more focus on the bride and grooms face, whereas in the before-photo their faces weren't grabbing enough attention. Color editing really allowed for more emotion to show through since we can now better see the looks on the models faces. The environment of the photo also now has a more magical, warm feel to it whereas it didn't before. I especially love the color editing on the leaves that are up close and out of focus. Kristine utilized this small element to her advantage and created a more lively feel in the after-photo.

Photographer: Thomas Leth-Olsen
Location: Hamar, Norway

Divergence can sometimes be tricky to capture, but Olsen has done a beautiful job in the most simplest way possible. To me, this photo says "take the road less traveled." Olsen captured the shot at just the right time when a light dusting of snow covered the curved tire tracks, representing that not everyone takes that path, such as the straight tire tracks that are completely cleared of snow. It's the simple things that can be the most impacting, and Olsen was able to combine a big message with an easy-to-understand shot.

Photographer: Candy Kennedy
Location: Studio

With such a bold choice of colors, makeup, hairstyle and outfit, this photo is packed with visual interest that is sure to draw the eye. Even though this photo is striking on it's own, I chose it because the model has her hands in the photo. Incorporating your arms/hands in a model shot is a great and natural looking solution to increase interest. It adds more content for the viewer to take in and examine and adds complexity without actually getting too complex and busy.

Photographer: Antonio Mendoza
Location: Unknown

I love that Mendoza created visual interest with the background but it's subtle enough to not take away the attention from the products. The faded Banana boat logo in the background reinforces the brand and has the potential to subconsciously imprint itself into the viewers mind. Though I like the subtle elements in the background, I think this product shot could do without the "light streak" (or whatever it is) that's to the left of the products. The faded logo in the top right and the left side (it's larger) of the shot is enough to create an effective element. The "light streak" just seems unnecessary.

Photographer: Taryn Ward
Location: Unknown

I'm not sure if I'm a fan of the bulls eye circles around the product. It seems too harsh and seriously distracts from the product itself, which is a huge problem when you're doing a product shot. The black circles draws your eye away from what's important and creates a distracting visual that steals the focus from the product. If Ward still wanted to use something similar to the black circles to create visual interest, I would create the same black half-circle element that's on the product and surrounds the brand name. At least that way it wouldn't look so out of place and the elements would tie together more nicely than the harsh black circles.

Photographer: Brenton Cleeland

Location: Unknown 

This product shot isn't the greatest. It doesn't look appetizing or appealing, and certainly doesn't make me want to drink the soda. For starters, the name "Coca-Cola" should be what's highlighted. Coca-Cola is widely known for their soda, so people will understand right off the bat what this product is when they read the name. I'd also give the product a little more headspace and the background could stand to be a white instead of a poorly lit gray. The top of the can is a little too dark and that glare on the 3 of the "375 mL" is quite distracting. 

Photographer: Arne Roslund 

Location: Florida

Being able to re-create sections of a photo is amazing; it brings back the integrity and vitality of the photo, and is able to create more visual interest for the person who has the memory of the moment. The original photo is in terrible shape, so it must have been tough trying to recreate the areas of her hair and dress. Her dress looks a little on the fake side, but I suppose the photographer did the best they could do considering the old photo had no reference to the dress since it's so damaged. The photographer did a wonderful job of making the woman's skin more radiant and lively as well as bring out her beauty and whitening her smile. It almost looks like a modern day photo with a simple vintage filter over it. 

Photographer: Scott Hancock
Location: Utah, U.S.

This photo restoration is stunning to say the least. Scott was able to enhance an older moment in time, while still keeping the integrity of the memory intact. Getting rid of the tear going straight through the middle of the photo was the biggest eye sore to take care of, and Scott did it flawlessly. There's no trace of the tear ever being there, and now we can see the little kids face clearly.  The weird white smudges on the photo were also a much unwanted element, Scott smoothed it out completely while still keeping the pattern of the house the same and saving the father's face. After a little work with levels and shadows/highlights, this photo was given new life after the washed gray scheme of the old photo was replaced by the more eye-catching and satisfying combination of whites, blacks and grays in the newly restored photo.

Photographer: Chris Havron
Location: United States

The way that Havron arranged the shoes strengthens the idea of casualness and a laid back lifestyle while still keeping a hint of class and stylishness. His use of light easily captured the texture of both the side and the bottom of the shoe, helping the product look more realistic and detailed. Even though it's a light colored shoe, I'm glad Havron went with a white background. To me, it accentuates the feeling of "fresh style" in a lightweight, casual sneaker and makes the product as a whole look sharp and clean.

Photographer: Gord Heatley
Location: Unknown

I love how dainty and light this photo feels. This fragrance is definitely a classier one, and Heatley was able to capture that feeling of freshness and elegance that this perfume gives. His use of light and the way he has the perfume angled gives a sense of light and airiness combined with a rich, fresh look. The addition of the gold chain as an accent piece helps bring out the yellow/gold color of the perfume, which strengthens the sense of high class, richness and elegance.

Photographer: Charley Wood
Location: Edinburgh

Even though the subject of the photo is off center, it still is able to capture the viewers attention because of the color contrast: the red of the wine and the green of the background. It really highlights and accentuates the deep, rich red and maroon tones of the bottle, wine and grapes. The shade of green chosen for the background is soft enough to not overwhelm the contrasting red but it's strong enough to compliment the wine nicely.

Photographer: David Heisler

Location: Unknown

Even though this model shot is in black and white, the use of lighting allows for a great visual of texture in her hair and shirt and the angles and contours of her face. The use of the lighting also brings out a wide range of whites, blacks and grays which allows the photo to have more depth and visual interest and avoids looking completely flat. I'd like to see a little more detail on the model's nose though; it's a little too white and is getting slightly blown out. Also, the small part of the top of her head being cut off is quite annoying. I'd re-shoot with the same model and pose but just move the camera up a little more in order to give her a nice amount of headspace.

Photographer: Kevin Kozicki
Location: Los Angeles

Kevin was able to create a high-end, modern and beautiful shot with his keen eye for lighting and coloring effects. The different shades of red on the poinsettia leaves tie beautifully with the boldness of the models lips. Kevin also brought out the blue of the model's eyes which makes for a subtle natural contrast that offsets the photo nicely since it creates a point of interest. By using 2 different light sources (a soft light from the upper left hand corner and a harder light on the right side of the models face) Kevin was able to capture to curves and edges of the models figure in such a pronounced way that its able to compete for attention with the boldness of the red elements.

Photographer: Covergirl

Location: Unknown

I chose this covergirl shot because of the message it sends. Talia was well known around the world for her battle with cancer. She loved doing make-up and had a YouTube channel on make-up demos. I love the fact that Covergirl didn't plaster her face with makeup to try to cover up the fact that she's bald from the cancer. Instead, Covergirl emphasized Talia's happiness, radiance and the life she had in her. The soft purple eye shadow just brings the slightest amount of attention to the life in her eyes and her light lip gloss makes her smile emphasized just enough to allow the viewer to focus on her genuine happiness. Covergirl was able to capture her character rather than just simply her appearance.