Nine out of ten witches recommend...
by Pedxer

Comment:
Laughter gets you a bonus point. The bright blue table seems a little harsh, though, (try dark green instead?) and the apple seems slightly out of focus, like you focused on the board and didn't have enough range to reach it. Try tripod-mounting, and shooting at a higher aperture (f/11 should probably do it).

Base: +5
Technical: -1
Interest: +1
Emotion: +1
Bias: +0

Total: 6

goldie and the three pears
by buzzmom

Comment:
You get a bonus point of interest for the awful, awful pun. Image seems out of focus, however, and the grey background doesn't really match the fairy tale theme, somewhat breaking the effect. It's a pity you couldn't arrange for some kind of mock table or bedroom.

Base: 5
Technical: -1
Interest: +1
Emotion: +0
Bias: +0

Total: 5

Let's Roll !
by maessenger

Comment:
Image is out of focus, seems slightly posterized, and has dark shadows that drop off too severely into black. The reflected highlight on the knife is also very harsh, and seems blown. The colors on the blade are somewhat pretty, but the colors on the handle are very odd, and the green at the left looks like fungus. Try a different angle to avoid the reflection, which is causing the extreme dynamic range hurting this image in both directions. If the title had been about the reflected light, drawing the interest to the colors, the image might have been more interesting, but as it is, it isn't really memorable, and the light just looks like an artifact of the reflection error. An apple and a knife on a counter alone isn't a very interesting image.

Base: 5
Technical: -2
Interest: -1
Emotion: +0
Bias: +0

Total: 2

core meltdown
by naomik

Comment:
The reflected glare is very distracting, particularly being so front-and-center, but this is otherwise a fascinating image. Next time, try putting a screen behind you at an angle and bouncing the flash off of that, or possibly just trying a diffuser.

Base: +5
Technical: -1
Interest: +2
Emotion: +0
Bias: +0
Total: 6

Star of Granny Smith
by ShaneBlake

Comment:
An interesting take on the challenge. The prominent seed is distracting, though, and mars the star.

Base: 5
Technical: +0
Interest: +1
Emotion: +0
Bias: +0

Total: 6

Schizophrenia
by CEJ

Comment:
Pity you couldn't quite get the apple slices on the left to line up as well as the ones on the right. Nice concept. The section of power outlet (phone outlet) at the right is distracting, though.

Outside Looking In
by Matthew

Comment:
If I were scoring for the contest:

Base: +5
Technical: +0
Interest: +0
Emotion: +0
Bias: -1

Total: 4.

The closer look at that thing in front (what the heck is that, anyway?) draws my attention enough to avoid a negative interest score, but that's it. I can intellectually understand where you were trying to go with this shot, but it doesn't grab me at all. I had the odd thought thinking about it while I was writing this of putting tiny backpacks on all of them and retitling it "school cliques suck", but I'm not sure that would have helped you with a voting public (I just have a weird imagination).

Again, the angle just bugs me at a personal level somwehre. See my notes on your Evolution shot.

Evolution
by Matthew

Comment:
If I were scoring for the contest:

Base: +5
Technical: +0
Interest: +1
Emotion: +0
Bias: -1

I like the concept of "evolving" from pointy to smooth (the title really makes this shot), but the way you have the picture rotated for some reason just gets under my skin. I can't really give any good reason for it, other than perhaps cognitive dissonance at an implied science involved in evolution (though I suspect those fruits have absolutely nothing to do with each other, whatever they are), and the physics of having them sticking to a wall.

Variety
by Matthew

Comment:
If I were scoring for the contest:

Base: +5
Technical: +0
Interest: +0
Emotion: +0
Bias: +0
Total: 5

The different shades grab the eye at least for a second, making it not completely tedious (a lot of shots in this contest got -1 in the Interest category from me for having absolutely nothing interesting at all about them), but nothing makes me want to look any further, either.

I think this was a hard contest to shoot for.

Homage
by atsxus

Comment:
If I were scoring for a challenge:

Base: 5
Technical: +0
Interest: +1
Emotion: +0
Bias: +0

Total: 6

There is a white halo over the land that probably comes from oversharpening, contrast boosting, or highlight adjustment that distracts heavily. The pure whites in the upper left are also a little harsh on the eyes. These are minor things that mostly kept me from really wanting to look too long at the left side of the image, but not bad enough to dock points for that alone (it did contribute to the less than optimal interest score, however).

The rays of light coming out of the clouds held my attention for quite some time, though, looking at how the light played out over the clouds moving to the right. There's something out in the center (boats?), but I can't make out what it is, so it only serves as a distraction. I also wouldn't really know what to make of the title without your comments.

Black and white sea shots in general don't really grab me that well, either. Other than a mild interest in the lighting, there's nothing really memorable or evocative about the shot.