smoooth-hic!by
ReinerComment by snaffles: Greetings from the Critique Club!
Not a bad idea but the execution needs some work. The composition is pretty good, though the strong afternoon sun is bleaching out your Bacardi label. The bottle itself isn't entirely in focus; the softness of the cap and the lettering at the bottom give this away. The glass in front is oof, but in fact you need the whole foreground to be oof for this challenge.
Here's what you might want to try. The glass table is nice and you have a fairly good angle on your subjects. First, maybe opt for a smaller glass, as the current one competes with the bottle for size. Or at least position a little more to one side so it doesn't obscure the bottle at all.
Next, as it looks like you have a good-sized table, position the bottle so it's approximately 1/4-1/3 of the way from one end of the table. Do the same with the glass but from the other end. Now, focus on the bottle and see what you get. Knock your ISO down to 100 or less. Mess around with your f-stop too. Keep your focus on the bottle and change the dof so you can see what kind of bokeh you get. Also as you shot at 1/4000, you had to be shooting handheld! A basic tripod isn't expensive (probably $25 or so) and is invaluable for shots like this.
Challenges like this are always a good learning experience, as there really is no other way than to go out and work on your technique. Another thing you may want to try, for this and any other challenge, is to start at the last page of the challenge entries, and work up to the ribbon winners. You should see a gradual increase in the quality of work and use of technique.
Hope this crtitique has been useful to you, and feel free to PM me.
Susan
Photographer found comment helpful.
