I am both bewildered and honored that my name popped up at all on any discussion related to style or inspiration. Then I read where you had "quite a bit to drink last night..." and it made a little more sense
Seriously though, I am happy to have been mentioned in any way. At the suggestion of others, I keep working with mine and experimenting with all sorts of different strategies to come up with something that pleases me. I have not tried any HDR imaging with shells so you too have inspired me to perhaps see what I can come up with along those lines. The Photomatix is great by the way and you probably would not be dissatisfied if you purchased it.
Your image, quite unique and different, is a very nice study that catches my eye in a number of ways. Most notably is the color or apparent surface finish or texture to your shells. They look mettalic and brilliant. I wonder if that is from the HDR software, your lighting, PP, or just a combination of all of those things. They have that mother of pearl sort of look to them that you see in a lot of different shells. I have always liked anything ordered and natural such as these shells. Their curves and angles and the overall structure of them is just exactly the way they should be. Chaos has its place in our world too and can sometimes be very enjoyable to examine but for me, nature, and all of it's splendor and perfection just cannot be beat. I wish we could solve our housing crisis like the inhabitants of these great structures are able to. They are conservative yet stylish and serve their purpose precisely.
The only thing that I might like to see differently, and it's of course subjective and a personal thing, is maybe not to have them quite so centered in the frame. If they were cropped a little tighter on the left side and had more open area on the right, it looks like it may give more room for movement.
James Newman