Nice shot! I think I may have tried to crop out the green in the upper right hand corner. Also trying to diffuse the light from the flash would have helped with the over exposed hot spots. Overall I think it is a great shot.
What you did with the contrast really helps the image work. The saturation of color is very striking, and does well to add to the already apparant texture of the shoe an oily secondary characteristic. The image would otherwise be very dull and not very remarkable at all. Good work. I will give you a 7 instead of a 3-4 rating for the post processing.
Nice high-contrast work, and a great sense of plasticity in the capture of the reflections on the leather. The brass grommets on the holes are well exhibited too. Certainly meets the challenge, and should score well, I hope.