Magnets From Places I've Gone Toby
catnComment by strangeghost: Greetings from the Critique Club
by strangeghost
COMPOSITION
The composition is rather ordinary, seems to be facing the refrigerator surface square on. A more oblique angle, or even having somebody hold something up in front to focus the attention (another memento from a trip?) might have helped to add interest. As shot, there are too many similar items competing for attention and no reason for the viewer to remain interested. Another way to accomplish this is to arrange the magnets in an interesting pattern, perhaps leaving some unused "negative" space that adds an element of visual curiosity.
TECHNIQUE
Two things immediately come to mind with this shot: lighting and focus. The light appears to be normal room lights from above, which has created large diffuse shadows that give the image an overall muddy feel. This might not have been bad if it had not been combined with a very soft focus. Given your shutter speed of 1/10 second, it looks like you attempted to hand-hold this shot, which is a huge no-no at those speeds. There's no way you can hold your camera still enough to obtain a sharp shot at anything less than 1/60th or so. Use a tripod or brace yourself against a firm surface and shoot very carefully.
OVERALL IMPACT
Not a very eye-catching photo, and one that is likely to annoy voters due to the technical shortcomings. An ordinary composition like this can work, but to do so it much be technically perfect.
<pause to look over your comments>
Commenters were very fixated on the focus elements, as I suspected they would. Your final score of 3.7 was surely a disappointment to you, but you probably understand the reason for it now. Keep shooting and work on those technical details! I see from your portfolio that you've done some outstanding work. I look forward to seeing more of you!
Photographer found comment helpful.