Opinions and A Giveaway

So I'm finding these new watermarks are kind of obnoxious and a bit of a pain to create, but such is life I guess.  Until I can figure out an even better way to protect my images, this will have to suffice I'm afraid!

I have a big favor to ask though, but it also means you'll be entered to win something.  I was wondering if you would be so kind as to take a look at these images and pick your favorites.  They are grouped in pairs and each one of the pairs has the same "look" to them.  Some are more vintage'y, while others just have a soft romantic look to them.

  I'll call these SET #1

This is the first set with a vintage look and some writing on them.

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 Set #2

This next set has a softer feel to them and there is less going on, but each has a stamp to give them a little interest.

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Set #3

Set 3 is even more simple with no writing at all, and just a painterly quality to bring out the beauty of the flowers.

So, what do you think?  Do you like set #1, #2, #3...and what do you like best, or dislike most about any of the sets?

As a thank you for taking the time to tell me which set you like the best or like the least, I will draw a winner from the comments and send him or her 5 x 7's of the set you like the best.

I will draw a name on Thursday and let the winner know on Friday.  Thank you for taking the time to give me some feedback, I really appreciate it!

A Little Bit of Everything

Sometimes when I go to play with an image I have a clear cut vision of the end product.  I would say that about 90% of the time this is true and I can see the finished product before I even begin, but there is still that other 10% of the time when I just go in blind and hope for the best.

When I photographed some Ranunculus I picked up last weekend, I wasn't quite sure where I wanted to go picture wise, but I did know that I wanted a soft aqua paired with the pale pink of the flowers.  Usually I like to keep things simple, but for whatever reason, tonight I threw in a little bit of everything, including using some script brushes I bought from FK Textures.  At first I wasn't sure I liked it, but after a bit I decided that sometimes throwing in everything but the kitchen sink makes for a more interesting image.

I've heard through the grapevine that people are stealing other people's images and claiming them as their own...such a shame.  So from now on I will be doing more elaborate watermarks and only posting very low res images.  It makes me sad to think that I have to do this, but with things like Pinterest it appears that those of us who make our living from creating artwork,  need to watch our backs and protect our images.  I have no problem with someone pinning something I post, in fact I love it, but only when they give full credit on mine or anyone else's work.  I try my best to do this on anything I pin as well, though I'm sure we all have a few images that we can't nail down the original photographer or artist, but I would never pretend they were my own work.

Well that's enough blathering for one evening, I hope you all have a very Happy Tuesday!