Wow, this was a fun one and I'm glad to see a couple new folks in here playing along. Thank you!
twtex85
I love the B&W conversion - it's "crisp" and well done. The exposure is perfect IMO. And the use of a black background is something I lean towards. The smoke is good and I have a good feel for where it comes from, yet there's a little part of me that is confused on the whole concept. The parts just don't seem to fit for me. I was wrestling with the cross and a gun, or two different candles and just couldn't tie them all together. For me, the matchbox also looked very staged and somewhat out of place.
Downs
Holy Super-Size-Picture-Batman. That's one large image. In the future, could you please try to size them to 1024 on the longest side? Smoke? Check. Context? Check. It's a gritty, no-nonsense image and you know exactly what you're looking at - smoke. This makes me want to see more.... Technically there's some detractors in the pixels I can see.
M38A1
Yeah, I love me some marinated boneless skinless chicken thighs on the barbie. Like I mentioned in the Project52 thread, I tried to frame the lid with the black side like a backdrop and the little vent to set some distance. The food was awesome, but this image fell a bit flat in the 'pop' department.
klb1122
I was wondering if you would participate with another kid shot... You did not disappoint. You are the master at capture of the faces of people, especially your kids. The intensity of the eyes on the candle is awesome. The smoke from the two candles is subtle, but there to let you know progression. Two down, two to go.
Woodbutcher
I can appreciate the time required to get these shots as I've done them in the past. In fact, there's a whole genre' of incense photography you might go look at. I like the pattern you captured with this one as well as the white and orange elements in the background.
Alas, I can only choose one, and I choose Downs this time around. Josh nailed the smoke part with quantity and context. I didn't have to think much about what I was looking at. The hand on the wall made me feel like that could have been 'my' hand - 'my' perspective. I wanted to see more in this series.
Congrats Josh and again, thank you for everyone who submitted this round.
Josh, check your PM's a bit later today...