Hi Mike. Ok, let's be honest here. Why didn't this photo work with the voters? Pretty much for several reasons. I think what you were going for was a good idea, no problems there. A wooden desk is a surface with lines running through the texture. It was all in the way you executed the photo.
The main thing, focus focus focus! I'll be honest and say I'm not too familiar with the camera that you are using. I know there are some users with this camera (SJCarter for instance) who produce some great work. It's all to do with knowing how to get the most out of your camera. There are two ways you could of gone about shooting this. You could of used the cameras macro mode setting to get in relatively close to the desk to capture it's detail. A standard P&S camera will operate from about 10 cms from the subject so it would of worked well. Alternatively, you could of pulled back a bit to allow the camera to self focus properly and then cropped it in tight to just show the desk. Either way, you've missed one of the main components of a photo here, which is the focus.
You'll also notice with your crop of the photo there is a little light spot right at the top in the centre. If you were after just the grain of the desk make sure you crop the image to remove things like this as some people will see it as a distraction.
Reading through your portfolio I see you're pretty new to all this. You've come to a great place to learn. It's good to see that you are experimenting with different ideas (looking at your portfolio) which ultimately is the best way to learn. It's amazing what you'll pick up by looking through other peoples photos and reading their comments on how they have done it. You mention in your bio that you're not very experienced with photo editing. Once again, this is a great sight to learn on. Look through the tutorials and try different things and see the results that you get. Keep at it, ask questions, experiment. It'll all come together. Best of luck with your future entries!
Hi. Given your profile bio, I'm writing to suggest that you study your camera's manual and learn how to use the autofocus and manual focus if it exists. Both of your entries suffered for being blurry.
Good luck, keep taking pictures, and play around with subjects, light, and points of view. You'll get there!
Yes, there are lines. But if the main point is the texture, it should be very sharp. As it is, it looks like a deliberately blurred background waiting for a subject.
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