The eye is drawn by the clean, solid composition; the natural gradient creating negative space. Balance of light and dark areas.

Impact/Vision – The overall feeling is very ethereal and subtle because of the sharp focus on the rim, and soft focus elsewhere. Peaceful. Balanced. Surprising vision of an everyday object.

Originality - There is an interesting ambiguity - is the plate metal or ceramic? Is the pic itself black & white, or color? It’s also not a straight-out pic of a plate - there are elements of solid and liquid. The balsamic vinagrette adds an interesting texture in the center. I thought at first that the plate was dented/hammered, until I read “balsamic vinegar”. Again, an interesting take on an everyday object.

Technique - The thing I like most about this photo is the sharp focus on the plate’s edge. It lends to depth of field; the blurred background and foreground lend to this effect. With this, I can also see a gentle bokeh sparkling in the back of the plate; this makes for repeated shapes with the round of the plate and the drops of liquid in it. There is also good use of negative space in the top of the photo which really draws the eye to the subject. And a nice bold gradient throughout the pic.

About that limited color palette it’s very nicely done. There’s a hint of green in the center of the plate (maybe from vegetation outside?) and perhaps subtle blues and sepias elsewhere. But elsewhere it’s de-saturated to a very interesting greyscale. Makes those subtle colors stand out.

Katrina