This pencil is one of those that are made from compressed wood chips (or something) and not "solid wood", so when you sharpen it, you don't get the thin, continuous curly shaving -- you get a bunch of saw dust. So that explains why the pencil looks the way it does. I hate those kind of pencils, but I kind of liked it for this photo because of the texture.
As far as putting the pencil on an angle, I did try some shots like that, but it resulted in a lot less of the pencil being in the "plane of sharp focus", so only a portion of the pencil was "sharp". In retrospect, I should have tried some shots where I rotated (and then cropped) the image so I could have had the best of both worlds (all of the pencil in focus and at an angle). Hopefully I'll remember to try that next time I'm in a similar situation.
The DOF on this is really good, and the sharpness of the pencil is equally as good. At first I thought the background was a lottery ticket, but thankfully the 'exam date' at the top isnt too blurred and can still be read, although it was clearly not a ticket after that first initial glance. It's a good image, meets the challenge.
Good clear shot. Looks like the pencil went through a grinder, tho. Still an excellent selection for the challenge. (Looking at it I can almost smell the pencil)
I like the background alot. I think the pencil is shot a little too close, I would like to see more of it. Also perhaps at somewhat of an angle instead of straight across.
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