Optical Delusion
by dtremain

Comment by FotoPhool:
I don't see negative space.

Pure Mischief
by dtremain

Comment by johnmcboston:
a little softer than I'd like to see...

Pure Mischief
by dtremain

Comment by FairyWings:
Is this soft? Or is it just me?

Pure Mischief
by dtremain

Comment by pamelasue:
soft focus doesn't help this one ... nice lighting and good composition

"Ring Bearer"
by dtremain

Comment by eamurdock:
Greetings from the Critique Club! It looks like an ashtray to me, but from the title I'll assume it's a ring holder, the kind with the little finger in the middle.

Pros:

You have nice colors, and an interesting abstract form.

Cons:

Your commenters pretty much nailed it here; the first reaction I have to this is "out of focus." It may be that the image is actually in focus, but remember that you're essentially using your subject as one of your camera optics, and that its optical quality is very, very low - that is, it may not have been possible to get this in focus. Compositionally, you're walking a line between centered and non-centered; I'd rather see one or the other.

The challenge:

This is a tricky one; had I seen this in voting I would have given you the benefit of the doubt, but at 1/80th of a second exposure you're not "painting with light." I'd be curious to see what would have happened if you'd shot this on for 10-15 seconds instead.

Pure Mischief
by dtremain

Comment by LeeD:
Blurry snapshot.

Pure Mischief
by dtremain

Comment by PHOTOKID:
Lack of focus in really sad because the composition and model are really good.

Pure Mischief
by dtremain

Comment by TheStick:
IMHO it's a little over the soft focus line to the OOF side.

Pure Mischief
by dtremain

Comment by downtherabbithole:
not in focus

Pure Mischief
by dtremain

Comment by ibrake4dux:
A little blurry for me...