[mule667]

I wasn't sure wether I should leave the shadow in on this one or edit it out, so tried both ways. Which one do you think works best??

[Charlotte]

Definitely with the shadow

[Dabhand16]

I think it depends on what you want the image to say or portray, and what environment you are displaying it in. With the shadow it is a picture of a couple of neckchains. A still life shot. Without it, it is a picture that you might get in a display, catalogue or advertisment, where the attention is on the item with no context or other distractions.

For me, on this site, it does not matter if there is a shadow or not, because all I see is a couple of neckchains, and I suspect there might be a lot of others with the same view. But put it into a brochure, and I would probably not want to see the shadow.

I think you could have got a better composition as the cross is merging with the other item.

[Charlotte]

Originally Posted by Dabhand16

I think it depends on what you want the image to say or portray, and what environment you are displaying it in ...

I was going to say that as well Graham, but then I thought, either way the shadow definitely balances out the composition much better. I agree that a more creative composition, i.e. spreading out the pendants to create more shapes, would give a much better effect, especially for the shadow to be graphic enough to be of interest. Also possibly a slight rotatation of the image, so that the chain is creating a subtle diagonal rather than a rigid vertical, might work better.

[JMitchell]

Agree with all said, basically