Need a hand?
by Kavey

Comment:
Cool image. Well done. Love the angle of the figure; and how it rises high above the small child. Love the blurred hand. Image seems a little washed out though in places; wonder whether you could improve that in Photoshop. Prelim: 7 Journey
Update: I do not like sentimental and cute pictures and in this challenge have had more than my fill of those. This picture, however, is so very "sympathetic" (can't find a better word for it). Of all the pictures, this one symbolizes childhood most or what it OUGHT to be.: smiling, protective, secure.... I really love the blurred hand but am a little bothered by how large areas are washed out (duotoning in Photoshop could enhance this image a lot). Hence I can't give more than an 8 for a final score. Journey

Chatting with a Friend
by CreativeFlyPhoto

Comment:
When flipping through the thumbnails, this is one of the image that pops out at me. I love the blurred background, effective cropping overall and particularly at the top of the head. Pleasing color scheme; good natural lighting. Since the image was obviously taken outdoors in natural light, there is the green color cast of the background trees. Am not saying that is desirable but here it happens to add move live to the character and image. 8 Journey

Not Again...
by alanfreed

Comment:
This brought up more memories of my own childhood and made me laugh. Would have preferred to see the badminton thingy more in the foreground. It is sharp but the foreground there is a little blurred and disturbs somewhat. Nice angles, nice composition otherwise. Fun original idea. 6 Journey

I get the window!
by lynnesite

Comment:
You know, I grew in The Netherlands and kids are exactly the same there! The fights we had who would get the window! So, I can relate to this. I'm sure there will be people who will say this only meets the challenge because of the title, but what the heck.
This is a nice image except for what is showing through the little bit of windows. Am at a loss to suggest how to do that differently because you needed some window. I guess it might have helped if the windows were rolled up and it might have seemed more opaque and hence less intrusive. That's an old car, too, what with the chrome and in good condition. This really brings me back to my childhood. 7 Journey

Pen Envy
by KarenB

Comment:
Subtle humor here and I like what you did with the pen. The only thing that bothers me a little is the vast expanse of white negative space in the top left area. 6 Journey

Leaden Smolders Above the Rest
by karmat

Comment:
I just knew that someone would submit a pencil on fire. The effect of the pencils en masse is very nice. So, is the burning pencil. Overall though when I look at this I find the image rather contrived and say "So what?". What's the photographer trying to convey other than presenting me with some cool effects. 5 Journey

Pencil-Necked Geek
by ClubJuggle

Comment:
Whoever did this has a lot of creativity and a great sense of humor. Quite a bit of patience too, I think. Needless to say, this is a fun picture. My only nitpick is to do a bit tighter cropping on the right and the left to reduce the clutter. 8 Journey

Office Boy
by drewmedia

Comment:
This is fun. I don't know exactly what office boys have to do with pencils (pencil pushers?) but hey, don't worry: you are meeting the challenge! Originality: good. Technical: good Composition: all right. Managing the model: good (I like his impish expression). Will revisit this lateron in the week. Journey

Being of Sound Mind and Shell...
by Kaz

Comment:
Technically a very clean, sharp image. The idea is original and fun. Two nitpicks: would have liked to see the top of the pencil less blurred because it is fairly upfront in the picture. The other is I wonder why the right claw has yellow tape; it spoils the effect a little of this being a "normal, natural" shell fish writing his testament en route to the skillet. 8 Journey

Utilitarian
by indigo997

Comment:
Since the pencils are sorta key to this challenge they should have been highlighted rather than being so obscured by darkness. I also don't like those two diagonal lines on the model's back; it makes it look, to me at least, like she had been engaged in some SM ritual. Don't know whether this was caused by the light or something else. The shadows also obscure the left side of the model in a somewhat awkward way. The lights and darks would have worked much better if the model's back would have been turned more at an angle from the camera. Journey