There you are
by depughe

Comment by PGerst:
** Hello from the Critique Club**

Composition
This photo has a very interesting perspective which definitely draws attention to it. One important element of composition is context. What is the context of the subject? If you look at the top ten photos, either the shoe was taken out of context, or specifically placed within a fitting context. For example, the 8th and 10th place (Baby's first walking shoes, and Chucks) are focused on the footwear itself, out of the environmental context. The 3rd place photo (Camouflage) puts the shoe into an environmental context that matches the shoe itself.

Your photo has a nice angle on the shoe, but the context becomes confusing and leads the viewer to ask questions such "what is the wire for", "is the green grass or a court of some type"?

You stated that you wanted the shoe to stand out from the background, so, remove the background, or make it simpler. The more complex a background is, the less you will be able to concentrate on the subject.

Technical
The focus is on, the lighting is nice a soft, two very important qualities. You mentioned you used the "remove color cast tool". Unfortunately, this tool didn't remove the color cast enough. Try using unsharp mask with a high radius. In photoshop, I use (24 7 0) as the colorcast removal options, and adjust accordingly. There are MANY ways to remove color cast and the forums are full of suggestions.

There you are
by depughe

Comment by bspurgeon:
I like the DOF, but I don't get the context of place from the background to complete the story hinted at by the title.

There you are
by depughe

Comment by Socrates:
Those are phenomenal boots! Well-taken photo.

There you are
by depughe

Comment by HarryY:
Not bad. The laces are a bit distracting as they look a bit out of control!

There you are
by depughe

Comment by Lgraber6109:
IMO there are too many things fighting for my attention

Somewhere up there
by depughe

Comment by IWhispered:
The focus at the bottom is blurry and all of the colors seem to fade together. The leaves at the top are cool though.

Somewhere up there
by depughe

Comment by summer03:
The blades of whatever it is in the foreground are really distracting.