Pure
by Patella

Comment:
Is this and UP shot or a DOWN shot, I really can't tell.....I also tried to get some floating pencils this week but gave up after 6 hours or so. Well done except for the out of focus background in the lower right corner and the flash on a few of the pencils....Just a personal opinion....not a criticism. This is very eye appealing...=7 syamjonimi ;'-D

Disappearing Act
by mci

Comment:
=7 and I hope you will share how you did this in a tutorial. I am going to make a guess and say you did an overlay and then took the photo. I find thelighting and distortion on the pencil to be a little distracting and a bit grainy. It is really a good analogy of what is happening to our money these days....syamjonimi ;'-D

It's All In The Angles
by CPattee

Comment:
Fascinating perspective

Form Precludes Function
by sjgleah

Comment:
Interesting conception.With a different background I would have scored this higher. The wood grain reminds me of school though....=7syamjonimi

Walking Stick
by darylbrown

Comment:
Many of the entries this challenge are just so darn funny. Intelligence, dexterity, imagination and humor....all in one singel entry. And a dran impressive photograph too!!! The only improvement i can see would maybe be cropping and ROT's. =8 syamjonimi ;-D

Ticonderoga Cutting
by mcmurma

Comment:
Does this work for growning new pencil trees? Interesting idea and a good shot without getting a bunch of reflection from the water and glass. It actually looks as if the roots are growing from the eraser. White on white is good. My only problem is that you don't get pencils from Ivy. It doesn't detract from the quality of the photo at all. My first impression wasn't great and I am ashamed to tell you where I first scored your photo. Rest assurred that is being remedied at this moment. =9 syamjonimi ;'-D

Find the Pencil
by #1 Bronco Fan

Comment:
This would have worked much better with a stark black, red, or white background. Pretty innovative though. Good idea.

three
by FranziskaLang

Comment:
I love the rich colors and complimentary DOF and background.

Aug 19, 9:45pm PST - upgraded from =8 to =9 syamjonimi

17 across.... BEACH
by karen_v

Comment:
I can't find 17 across..... when I count it out 17 begins in the middle of a word, so, at best it would have to be 17 down. This is a pleasant concept for the pencil challenge. The picture has a nice warm comfortable feeling. I think I would score it higher if it was cropped closer to the sea shells and leave the horizon and people out. The background get so out of focus that it draws my eye up instead of keeping it focused on the challenge topic.

Pencil Holder
by normw

Comment:
Seems this photo could almost be called "Birth" or "Vicious Intruder." I personally prefer something without the challenge topic in the title. This is a very colorful photo. How you came up with this idea just stumps me totally. (Not that I think it's a bad idea, just the opposite.) The two things that are distracting me are - The softened edges of the red tomato and the blown highlight on the tomato . To me, soft edge needs to be crisp and sharp and softening the lighting glare on the tomato would make it lok rounder and fuller and more luscious.