Pencil Guard
by underground

Comment:
I've seen lots of people comment about cropped heads in the past, but no complaints from me. It works here. Have to admit, the title adds to the humor factor. I can not help but wonder if you stopped this person somewhere on a base or something and said "excuse me, but can I put this pencil on you and take your photo?" LMAO. Anyway, not much I can say. Lighting, angle, and focus are good. The only thing I can see that isn't perfect is the background. It's kind of discolored down by his arm, but then again, that's just me being picky. Love the red white and blue touch in the pencil. Great shot and good luck in the challenge.

Pencil kindling
by fstop

Comment:
very nice lighting I love the orange glow. There are only 2 things that I would have done a bit differently in this photo. The angle is great, but the leaning candle would look better if it were standing straight up. And the background is great all except for the upper left corner where there is what looks like the bottom of a picture frame. Other than that, nicely done. Good luck in the challenge.

A Pencil with History
by DigiPique

Comment:
I have to smile at this. I used to work in a lumber yard and had to carry one of these around all day to mark lumber, trim and pipe for cutting. I was the only girl that worked there and I was the only one that ever remembered to take my pencil with me to the yard, so it seemed like I did all the marking. Anyway, great photo. The focus is great and so is the lighting. The bottom right corner gets a bit dark, but it doesn't take anything away from the photo. Kind of adds even more mystery. Great idea and good luck with the challenge.

Old Hands at Work
by camelotnorth

Comment:
My grandpa used to sharpen his pencils with a pocket knife. I like this photo a lot. Not afraid to tell you it's 1 of 6 10's this week. The lighting is great, angle is beautiful and it gives a high emotional impact for me as well as pleasing to look at. I could hang this on my wall. Great shot and good luck with the challenge.

New Message
by prkemby

Comment:
LOL. This one definately got my vote for humor. Definately new, that's for sure. The face plate on your phone though is textured and colored just right to make it look like the photo was sharpened too much, so if you get that comment, that could be the reason. The angle is good and lighting is good, however, it gets a tad bright going into the bottom left corner. i assume that's where your light source is reflecting. Overall nice photo. Good luck with the challenge.

The new settlers
by gja2600

Comment:
I see what you are trying to get at. However, These were the new settlers in 1492 (I think that's right). Which would technically make them very very old settlers. WE would be the new settlers. But I think that this does make a great point, that EVERYTHING is new at one point or another. So, setting that aside, Could the photo be centered a little better? I do understand that sometimes, for strange reasons (like maybe there's a huge silly resteraunt ad to the left) that it is better if it's not centered. If that's the case, then we'll just have to deal with it. I do see one too many heads in the photo though, and that is an easy fix, just do a little cropping to the bottom, and ta da! This is a very interesting photo. Was this taken on the east coast somewhere? You captured this nicely, good luck with the challenge.

New Morning...
by fsieradzki

Comment:
I love how this is framed by the plants, and it is a magnificant sight. Never been there myself. The lighting is great, however I don't see any indication of weather is is morning noon or night except by the title. Like I said, I have never been there though, to know what morning looks like there, so I have to go by your word on this. It is a great shot. You should try it on other sites as well. Good luck with the challenge.

Sharp
by mci

Comment:
I am shocked at the amount of people that didn't get this. The newness jumped right out at me. Maybe from my personal experience with new knives. lol. I personally think you did a great job with this.

Sharp
by mci

Comment:
I get the point behind this. new knife. At first, the seeds bothered me, but then when I pictured it without the seeds, it looked boring. So the seeds are important to the photo. As I sit here reviewing it, I notice the word "sharp" on the knife and I like that too. It seems to be a little too bright. The vast majority of the photo is just fine, but toward the top right it gets a bit washed out. The substance used to resemble blood looks great, however where it had been put on the knife, it looks grainy and almost seasoned. Overall affect is very good. Good luck with the challenge!

Thin Ice
by GeneralE

Comment:
This is a little bright at the top. Maybe you could have tried to reduce the light a bit by placing something between the light source and the subject. I have heard that a thin cloth or a thin paper placed between the light and the subject helps to reduce glare and help from getting a too bright look. You did a good job of taking the photo so that we can tell exactly what it is. Even without the title, I still think we would be able to know what it is. Good luck with the challenge.