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Comment by Artyste:
Hello, and greetings from the Critique Club. I am your critiquer, Artyste, and I'll try and do my best to bring some intelligent discourse to your photo.

Initial Thoughts

What the.. oh.. hey, clever.

Composition / Content

A very unique view of shoes, which is confusing at first glance, but then slowly grows on you. The curves you've gotten are really quite nice. If I have one issue, it is that the setup seems slanted to the right, a little offsetting, but minor.

Background

Nice and clean, and compliments the coloring well.

Camera Work / Technical

First thing I want to touch on is the lighting. Mostly, it's done well, subtly, but I feel that the right side of the right shoe being in full shadow needed to be corrected. The image in my mind would have benefitted if the lighting on that side was the same as the lighting on the left. Falling off into shadow there unbalances the image for me, and contributes to that right-leaning slant I mentioned earlier. Also, your focus seems just the *slightest* bit off at the top of the back of the shoes. I personally love the shallower DOF, putting straps in front OOF.

Digital Processing

You didn't mention any processing, but I think that maybe working on selective colors to try and tweak the muddy burgundy/brown into something a little more dynamic would have also boosted the look of this photo. Just a suggestion though.

Fits the Challenge

While it definitely fits the challenge, it *does* have that initial "what am I looking at here?" thing that can result in turning a 6 or 7 vote into a 5 from people that are in a hurry. Just something to think about. Abstracts really take a certain something to do really well on DPC, I find.

My Opinion of the Photo

Despite the initial confusion, it's a photo that grows on you as you look at it. I like the creativity and simplicity. I'd have liked to see a little more color to it, perhaps more glow in the background, but it works as is too. Good work, and good luck in future challenges.

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Comment by Caine:
Beautiful (almost) abstract composition, well balanced which suits the type of shoe. The lighting catches just enough to make the texture jump out, And the very elegant movement and weight in the lines really captures the essence of such a shoe. A tiny flaw, and I'm nitpiocking at this point, is the reflection of the room caught in the left heel. Otherwise I love this pic. 9

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Comment by graphicfunk:
A strong attractive visual. 8

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Comment by Qart:
Great image... perhaps whole image should have been in focus... but that's a matter of preference... well done

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Comment by bigpink:
excellent original composition. Cheers!

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Comment by caramelapple73:
Incredible

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Comment by SJCarter:
Beautiful lines and composition. I like the tones too. At first I didn't like the DOF and the fact that the front of the shoes weren't crisply in focus, but it's grown on me and now I think it wouldn't look right any other way. Great job!

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Comment by Jutilda:
This is very linear and has perfect symmetry, when done so obviously, works. This would make a great poster. I like the light and dark of it as well as the geometry of the straps. This is clever and after 2nd review, I'm upping my score. (:~p)

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Comment by donfanatic:
Great symmetry, almost looks architectural!

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Comment by ninja:
I don't see a shoe here! ;-)