Winter Sunset at Cannon Beach
by william88

Comment:
A classic subject and good capture of interesing reflections. Wish the rock masses could have just a little more definite separation from background.

Smile For The Birdie
by Marc923

Comment:
Nice portrait with good expression, absence of glasses glare, three dimensionality with side light, although dark side of face could use a little more light than that one somewhat bright spot. If repeated, consider eliminating the little triangle of background between the shirt and back of the chair (position, crop, clone?).

St. Andrews Cemetary (est. 1708 )
by RulerZigzag

Comment:
Very spooky looking place, enhanced by the lighting. How much was there already and what did you need to add?

Rock music
by LevT

Comment:
Very interesting rendering of the subject (slot canyon country rock, perhaps rotated 90 degrees?).

Looking Out
by Fromac

Comment:
Nice combination of colors and differences in textures. I hope you will explain how you set this up to avoid including the camera in the reflection.

Temptress
by StOlafPhotographer

Comment:
Red fabric and bare skin hold the eye well. Might consider placing her less directly in the center and letting a little more light in where the left eye is currently shaded. Her eye position and arm position seem to communicate uncertainty (perhaps, "am I doing this right") a bit stronger than the invitation suggested by the title.

Her Favorite Perch
by Jerinelle

Comment:
Nice use of side light.

Here's looking at you
by Connor

Comment:
Braces on the teeth make for a startling element that seems to clash with the expectations set by the fur/white backbround/gloss lipstick combination.

Lybius torquatus
by sulamk

Comment:
The large beak and membrane at the top of they eye give a sense of character to the expression. Nice to have the background out of focus. With exotic species I find myself without a mental reference to judge fidelity of color rendering.

Spoon over half cone
by Jemifus

Comment:
Welcome to the challenges. For the voting and scores, it helps to remember your purpose in submitting - to learn, instead of to gather scores. Sometimes comments help with that, sometimes not. But you can always learn from having attempted to meet a challenge and then noticing in detail how others approached the topic. Still, you were not last place.

As you have discovered, along with many of us, studio set up shots are not easy. Your subject is complex. Moving the background further away would eliminate some of the distrating variation. Not sure why the spoon appears out of focus, but that does diminish the visual appeal. Consider reading up on all the different factors that affect depth of field besides the f stop.