===== From charliemc@prodigy.net: Would make a nice Christmas card. ===== From ojamies@cs.helsinki.fi: The contrast in this image is Cristmass withoud snow. Not everyone sees it like this but to me snow and Christmass belong togather. Your snowman look bit plastics and it even more contrasts my view on winter. See you in next round ! ===== From elvish_archer@mailcity.com: ho ho ho I am Santa Claus hee hee hee I am witch prue, piper, phoeboe ===== From hgregory3@aol.com: Artistic - This would make a great holiday season Wallpaper-background for your computer. Technical - Some challenging work in here. Concept - A seasonal contrast... 8) ===== From jrcsurvey@aol.com: Good idea. Nicely executed. I wish you'd pressed the symmetry aspect further. ===== From steve@neurotrain.com: A 15 T 12 C 20 Nicely laid out, and I like the sublte differences - the bay window for example. And while I understand the technical challenge of having snow, not having it takes away from the image. Finally, though in real life the yard layout is usually identical, for the purpose of the image I would have made the house mirror images (put the walk and path on the other side of the "uptight" house) Looking at it I guess this is Christmas in a Florida suburb at the edge of a new development (no buildings behind them). Technically, you just need practice on the plants (the grass looks quite good for a manicured lawn), and the textures of the road and sidewalk (maybe Santa, too). And everything looks a little too clean and perfectly edged. The lights are really cool. Cool idea - that's why you get 20. ===== From gmccarter@hotmail.com: "Tasteful" is in the eye of the beholder. The contrast could be strengthened by eliminating more of the decoration on the right side: the sidewalk candles and pole wrap fall into the tacky category to me. A house spotlight in the front yard of one of the houses would also help increase the contrast in both the visual and thematic sense. Good solid technical work all over. But artistically uninspired -- can you find a better view than straight down the property line? I know what you were trying to accomplish (a mirror-image comparison), but the result is a childish "can you find the differences between these two pictures?" effect. Moving the camera to the left, for example, would make the tacky house more overbearing and obnoxious, while making the tasteful house even more subdued. Wouldn't this enhance the contrast? Keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing more of your images. ===== From hfventer@ing.sun.ac.za: Somehow the snowman seems a bit overlit ===== From white@rational.com: Great concept! Totally timely. ===== From mark.wagner17@gte.net: Tacky vs. tasteful? A quick drive around my neighborhood reveals that both houses are in very good taste. To get a truly tacky house, you should: 1) Outline all the windows and the door with christmas lights. 2) Add two more Santas, both in the front lawn. Also, add a sleigh and a number of reindeer. 3) Add moving figures in all the windows. 4) Add ten times as many lights to the bushes, and double the number of lights in the trees. 5) Outline the peak of the roof and the sides of the house with lights. 6) Add lights to the wreath on the front door. 7) Outline the railings on the front porch with lights 8) Add a Christmas tree visible through one of the windows 9) Ideally, all these lights should blink. At different rates. This will produce a house that is less tacky than the one I can see through my bedroom window.