OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for the Mu (most underrated) award:
Positives: Very delicately done - the whole look is very much in keeping with the subject. The very narrow zone of focus is highly interesting, but for me the highlight is the shadow!
Critical stuff: Nothing really
Overall: A very precise piece of work which gets the most out of a simple subject.
I think this is exceptional. Wonderful subject, carefully lit and the shallow DOF gives me softly and crisply focused details right next to each other that makes the photo more interesting.