This is mine...go find your own!!
by ksierras

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

That is one possessive glare:-) The angry look along with the title makes this shot. You have some good detail and clarity. However the biggest weakness that prevents this shot from being a great shot is the lighting. Harsh lighting on the hair resulting in blown highlights in some spots and deep shadows under the eyes, on the hands and under the neck. If the outdoor lighting was taken in a shady area where the light was evenly spread out to illuminate the boy it would greatly improve this portrait. A very small critique I have is that you give the audience very little 'hope' of getting a bite if the cookie is more than half gone:-) I think the composition would be better if you captured this after just one bite gone...it would be much more likely one would ask to have some after the first bite and is welcomed by that glare that states "go find your own!"

Chocolate Tuxedo Cake
by vawendy

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

The cake does look tasty:-) I like how you placed the fork on the diagonal to act as a path that the eye travels along to arrive at the cake. The tradeoff is that we only see 1/2 of this sweet treat leaving us craving more (both a plus and minus). In a way, the main subject of the shot is the fork with the cake becoming the supporting cast. I am craving to see more of that cake the more I look at this shot. The plain white backdrop allows the cake to stand out visually but the minus is that if gives off a feeling/mood of being stark and cold. On the PC it looks fine but on the laptop where the screen is brighter the defining edges of the square cake slice where the vanilla portion and especially the white cream filling gets lost and 'blends' into the white BG. It is a good shot but I feel a background with a warm color tones would complement the cake and create a mood that is both warm and inviting thereby further increasing the visual appeal of the photo. Another suggestion is if you want to keep the white backdrop then a way to make sure those edges of the cake don't get lost is to 'gently' take some of the chocolate frosting and lightly brush it onto the edge of the cake (the suggestion is to do it in real life before snapping the shot - not something in photoshop:-) ) But don't overdo it - it should look as natural as the slight brown (graham cracker crust?) of the edge that is just below the the chocolate filling on the bottom layer.

guilt on a stick
by MichaelC

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

Ah the sights and sounds of a county fair. Treats and games and many fond memories; as a street shot photograph that is what it invokes with me. For a dessert shot photograph, I have to honestly say not so much. There is just too much to look at for it to be labeled as a 100 % shot of a dessert. However, I *do* look at this and see potential for this to become a shot that showcases a dessert. For example: I see those big words at the base of the stand that states "Takeaway Food". At the end of the "d" in 'Food' it can be a spot where a child stands holding a large ice cream cone or funnel cake or cotton candy - gleeful for what tasty delight they hold in their hand. The child model would completely fill the right 1/3 of the frame while the stand would be in soft focus/bokeh (but not too soft so that you cannot read those words "takeaway food" for that would be a subtle path the eye travels to when looking at the stand). I realize that waiting for a shot like that would be challenging on several fronts or that you may not have a child/relative that could pose for the shot in the example but that is just one way that this could become an effective shot to showcase a dessert.

Chocolate Soufflé and Rich Chocolate Sauce with Fresh Strawberries
by Stagolee

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

The red of the strawberries really pops off of the black dish. The color is vibrant and inviting - tempting the audience to take a bite. Lighting is good on the strawberries but the dark tones of the chocolate souffle gets lost on the plate. Lighting on that portion of the dessert is going to be a challenge because of the plate being a dark color - no high contrast to allow it to pop visually. Perhaps just a small light with tissue over it to diffuse the harsh light and shine it just on that portion of the cake would have sufficiently lit it enough to be clearly visible. Or perhaps tissue paper folded over twice on the pop up flash unit of the camera (again, to diffuse the light so that it is soft rather than harsh) would help illuminate the souffle. The last option is to use the select tool and feather to avoid hard edges on the bottom half of the souffle and either up the gamma a tick and/or boast contrast/brightness.

one for you, the rest for me
by klkitchens

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment now.

Heh, love the humor introduced in the title that is demonstrated in the photo:-) Lighting is good on the subject and you have some good detail. The critique is that the elements just sitting amoung the backdrop does not tempt the viewer to want to reach out and grab the handful. While the green backdrop is close to matching the hue of the text 'Junior Mints' it does little else for the composition. It needs that little extra 'touch' that would make it very appealing to the eye. The green is too neutral a tone - perhaps a warmer tone backdrop would allow the candy to shine or even introducing an 'location experience' (the candy sitting on a table with bokeh background of what is clearly a movie concession stand in the backdrop).

Almost Sinfully Good.
by Lydia

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment now.

Great texture, tones and lighting on the chocolate cake. The photo has great detail in the chocolate toppings and the layers of the cake. The white backdrop allows the browns and coffee cream of the cake to pop off of the backdrop. While it allows the cake to pop visually the tradeoff is that it is an environ that is stark and cold. The lack of warm color tones to complement the cake makes it visually appealing but unsatisfying to taste (the looks better than it tastes). Still, a very good shot, but in my opinion it would be stellar if it had some warmer tones in the backdrop to complement the cake.

O
by Tiberius

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment now.

Colors and lighting is lovely on this photo dessert. The flaw is the very soft focus, but oddly it also is a strength. The only thing that is in sharp focus is the one cherry and a bit of the frosting around it. All else is soft focus such that we cannot truly appreciate the details of this tasty treat. However that soft focus works to project a feeling of velvety softness - that this cake will literally melt in you mouth with smooth silky taste of chocolate and vanilla icing. So I do like what the soft focus does but I think it just needs a little tweaking to get a better balance better sharp focus and soft. Perhaps if the middle 40% horizontal portion was in sharp focus but the far background and near foreground soft focus it would get that Goldilock's "just right" feel (yeah, I know: man she is being so darn picky:-) )

The Loch Ness Pastry Monster
by wejna

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

I love the presentation, the colors, the the word play on this dessert entry. The chocolate topping on the lemon colored cake does look like Nessie! The yellow of the cake just pops visually off of the black plate. I also love how the spoon is added into the composition that basically invites us to reach down and take a bite out of this dessert. My only critique is that I wish the lighting was a little more even to provide a bit more illumination and detail of the front half of the treat. As it is now, it rests a bit too much in the shadow - show us more of those lovely yellow and tasty details.

New York Cheesecake With Fresh Raspberries
by Cuttooth

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

Lighting is excellent on this composition. The set-up of elements is light, bright, and airy making the dessert look inviting and tasty to eat. Details in the desserts and all the other afternoon teatime is what makes this an appealing image to both drink in and have a bite. Well done, I have no suggestion on how this image could be improved.

Single 'n' sweet
by damoninja

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment now.

First off the strengths of the image: You bring the viewer up close and personal with this tasty treat. We can see all the details adorning this cupcake. The composition is also interesting in that you showcase only half making it appear larger - this is a big treat. The colors of the treat really pop off the plain black backdrop that allows it to visually pop.

The biggest weakness of the image lays with the harsh lighting and or processing that brings in harsh contrasts/shadows on the icing of the cupcake and the pink wrapper that makes it look dark and 'burned'. I think better lighting and evenly illuminates the cupcake without introducing hard/deep shadows will help increase the visual appeal of the treat.