Queen of the garden
by pitsaman

Comment:
Nice focus, clean, tidy, good contrast with the background. The flowers pop, as if they were glued to my monitor.

wilting
by Pep Ventosa

Comment:
I know you did it on purpose, but the blur makes it look like there's a dirty window between me and the subject, and is distracting as hell. The lighting is very bright and harsh on the right and very dark on the left, without seeming to highlight where we're 'supposed to look' in any way. The only real focus of attention I can find is the fallen petals at the bottom or the shapes on the wall ... which I doubt is what you intended.

A Very Unusual Portrait
by smellyfish1002

Comment:
I know it's what you intended, but the forced perspective and total blur on everything but the upper lip induces a bit of vertigo in me, as if I were leaning back and forth from the screen. Good concept, execution somewhat lacking.

Castle
by trish

Comment:
A little more contrast/blackpoint might have helped the castle jump from the background a bit more strongly. This might have been a 9 or 10 ... but even as-is, definitely 7.

Rain, Rain, Stay and Play!
by christey

Comment:
The blurred arm distracts from the shot, especially since nothing in the frame is really *in* focus. The eye tries to fasten on the kid, but then slides off to the plants because of focus and lighting. A good 'almost' shot. If time and equipment permitted, I'd have shot lots of frames of the same session, and picked the one that worked out of twenty or so.

Where Highways meet
by jab119

Comment:
A tiny bit crisper focus here might have gotten a ten from me; as it is, it's still a fascinating subject, laid out to look almost like a cathedral rose window.

The source of all of the colour BROWN
by Morgan

Comment:
The color is so saturated that it actually distracts from the image - it makes it harder to distinguish the subject from the background, because they all bleed together with no clear boundary. Focus and composition decent, though.

Lancing collage
by marbo

Comment:
Hrm. I know the focus artifacts in this are probably on purpose, but I find them incredibly distracting. It draws the eye to the bush in front and drops it there (and I doubt the bush was your intended center of attention). 6, but coulda been 8.

Midnight Church
by tyrkinn

Comment:
I like how the church is clean and flat-seeming, almost like it's made out of cardboard, against a gently cottony sky. Nice textures, especially played against each other.

Bone crushingly bad day
by Yomi

Comment:
Wow. I'll be looking to find out where this was shot, after the competition. :-> It looks like a museum diorama, sort of; if so, the lighting is amazingly good (usually museums are so harshly lit it's a bitch to photograph 'em). It's got personality, its composition is strong and uncluttered. Definitely 10.