I like this picture but think it could benefit from greater DOF. The composition is nice and I do like the softness but would like to see a bit more detail in the in focus area, maybe 1 more stop of DOF. Very nice shot.
Beautiful. It has a great soft, touchable feel without using a soft focus. Very nice work, I think this will finish high unless people are picky about the black and white. 9
Challenge: 7 I just not seeing the white background its looking more of a gray. Maybe adding some light from a couple of directions could have solved this.
Technical: 10 I like the focus and DOF I can see good texture so I see the sharpness is good.
Compostion: 10 I ike how you placed the subject just a tad of centered makes the image work will with this kind of subject.
Appeal: 3 I think I would have liked it more if you would have had a white background using lighting then you would have seen shadows of the various textures.
Overall: 7