Best Friend - 2015 third theme results

Just a note to all the participants that the judges are very much enjoying all of your interpretations of the theme and your creative photos. The comments are offered as constructive feedback, but we hope they do not discourage you in any way.

1st – Anna/Marsian


2nd –Penny/sarascales66


3rd – Delphine/Jane Cherie


Lyris - This is a charming photo. We liked the outdoor setting and the natural pose (and the bunny ears Lyris is making behind his head!). The hair in the face of Erasmus is a bit distracting, and we did not feel this photo expressed the theme quite as well as some of the others.

March - This is a sweet photo full of motion. You can practically feel the wind; the flyaway hair suggests the cart is moving fast. It definitely gives the impression of three friends having a blast. This photo just missed placing in the top three. It would probably be even more effective without the toys in the front and with a lighter background to reflect the upbeat vibe.

Tiger Lily - This is a nice view of Tiger Lily and her friend enjoying the outdoors. It looks like Tiger Lily is lost in thought; we would have liked to see her gaze on the camera. We did not feel this photo expressed the theme quite as well as some of the others.

Delicate Tip Toe - Excellent use of color and lighting. It made us wonder what they are looking at and what mischief they are contemplating getting. We did not feel this photo expressed the theme quite as well as some of the others.

Nerissa - The photobomb is indeed amusing as a fun cat photo. As a Best Friends photo, it doesn’t really capture the theme.

Anna - Simple and effective, with minimal but effective use of props. It looks like a real setting and shows the theme without explanation. It certainly focuses on the friendship of Anna and her bestie. We loved the best friends necklaces.

Fannie - This photo definitely conveys the feeling of comfortable intimacy between two friends sharing a book. We like the placement of them in the corner, with the lines of the room drawing our eyes towards their heads. The crooked photo on the wall is a bit distracting, but this was another contender for the top three.

Alice Liddell - It looks like Alice's friend has come to keep her company while she is sick in bed and does a nice job of addressing the theme. The lines in the room draw your attention to Alice's face even though Anne is closer to the viewer. The Best Alice Liddell entry so far!

Lilith - The stark white of the creature against the black backround with Lilith in front is very striking.The blackness that surrounds her conveys a feeling of emptiness and loneliness but not necessarily a sense of Best Friend.

Delphine - We liked the cheerful setting of a café with the two friends sharing a lively conversation. Great use of props to bring the set to life. Delphine could have used a bit of propping up so she was not leaning back so far, and it could have been even more effective if the friends were making better eye contact. But still good enough for third place this round!

Fata - How nice that Fata the Byul’s best friend is another Byul.  This photo is a bit static. We’d have liked it better if there was something going on, like if the girls had linked arms, were looking at each other or something on that order. The little Pullip and the bunny are a bit distracting.

Penny - This photo really captures a melancholy air of waiting for or missing one’s best friend. The rain, the fancy dress and tights, the balloons and her wistful look are all great. It’s a good photo in that it makes the viewer want to find out more about it—is Penny supposed to attend a party? Is her best friend coming over to visit? Or did she move away? Or something more tragic? A nicely put-together shot that leaves the viewer hanging. The tilted lamp was a bit distracting; the photo would be even stronger without the lamp or with a straight shade.

Yay Anna! That precious BFF necklace was my favorite prop in this round Congrats to Penny and Delphine for their spots in the Top 3

And it's good to know that what I intended to be sign of Fannie's more slap-dash, casual personality was more distracting than indicative of the friends Odd Couple-ness. Will keep that in mind in the future!

Congrats top three! Great job everybody. Fun to see.

Congratulations to everyone who submitted an entry for Round 3. It's always fun to see how differently the theme can be depicted in photos.

Nice work, all!

This was another fun round!  We seem to end up with about 5 or 6 favorites that we have to somehow narrow down to three.  It's also interesting to see where we agree and disagree when the three of us are looking at the same photo.

Jane Chérie, you did a good job of hiding how you were holding her in the chair.  It can be frustrating when they just don't want to cooperate!

If you fold a piece of cardboard into a wedge and either have them sit on it, with the fold towards their knees opening up towards the back it can help them sit up straight.  Or use it between the doll and the back of the chair to push their upper body forward more.  I used a wedge in this round because my Byul kept wanting to lean back too far in the coffin, so I stuck it under her to prop her up more.

Another thing that can work, if you have some, is to use that sticky tack stuff to stick their shoes to the floor.  Sometimes that's all it takes to keep them from sliding down in a chair.

How about a pillow behind her back after she is secured, to prop her forward? Good use of the ribbon - I would never have guessed that was holding her on the chair.

Congratulation to everyone who entered, im glad i was not choosing the winners because they were all amazing. Thankyou for placing me second, that was amazing and thank you for the photography advice because i really do want to improve. My son thought the lamp comment was funny though because he had said from the beginning that it looked wrong, so he is gloating

Thank you TrueFan and CornFlowerBlue for the advice and tips! I will keep them in mind and try for the next time!

O wow, I did not expect this at all, completly surprised! I actually thought the idea might have been to simple and love many of the ideas that were presented by everyone! thank you so much for liking my photo!    

Appologies for such a belated response, My head has been all over the place and at points it seemed as if it wasn't in sync with my body's location, so to speak  

Congrats Penny and Sara, has Hannah arrived safely? Of so, more pics please
And ofcourse congrats to the two of also Delphine and Jane, I love the coffe shop setting, It looks like a nice place for friends to share a coffee and good stories!

I really enjoyed this round, it was so much fun to see all those great ideas brought to life!