Cake Pop Critique

[KongeTorsk]

Cake Pop

Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Lens: 18-135 mm at 135 mm
Date Taken: 7.58pm on 4 nov, 2011
Shutter Speed: 1/25
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO Speed: 250
Edited in PS CS5.1 and Lightroom 3

I took this picture of a cake pop (or a few) a couple of days ago. The original picture was much warmer than it currently is now.

I don't have one specific question for critique, so here are a few I would like to ask about:

1. Do the semi blown-out highlights ruin this picture?
2. Is the exposure too much in general?
3. Could this picture benefit from a zoom view towards the main cake pop (as if one is reaching for it?)
4. Do the slight imperfections on the brown cake pop distract?
5. Is the contrast between the edges and the centers of the pops unpleasing?
6. Could the crusty topping on the cake pop go for any more adjustments? (Like darker, more contrast, color switched to warmer, etc.)

Any other comments about this image are welcome. Feel free to edit this image yourself and re-post it to illustrate a point or improvements.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this. Tusen takk!

[KongeTorsk]

Anyone want to give some critique? Gut reactions? "This is so terrible, shield my eyes from it?" Anything is appreciated.

[asaphotographer104]

My first thought when I saw the picture was "The main 'pop' shouldn't be in the center of the frame." I would bring your camera up and to the right, placing that main pop in the bottom left corner of the frame.
The top right side of the main pop is a bit bright. (Im assuming this is where your light source was comign from)
I would deepen the DoF so the entire main pop is in focus instead of just the front of it.
I would say the entire presence of the brown pop is distracting...my attention keeps going to it rather than the main pop.

Hope this helps!

[KongeTorsk]

Originally Posted by asaphotographer104

My first thought when I saw the picture was "The main 'pop' shouldn't be in the center of the frame." I would bring your camera up and to the right, placing that main pop in the bottom left corner of the frame.
The top right side of the main pop is a bit bright. (Im assuming this is where your light source was comign from)
I would deepen the DoF so the entire main pop is in focus instead of just the front of it.
I would say the entire presence of the brown pop is distracting...my attention keeps going to it rather than the main pop.

Hope this helps!

Awesome, thank you for giving me a response. I don't think I'll be getting back there anytime soon, so I'll crop the image and play with it that way. (So DoF won't be getting fixed anytime soon, however, the tighter crop may create more of a sense of closeness, somewhat eliminating that.)

Do you, or anyone else feel that the brightness at the top will take away from the photo after I ditch the brown pop? If it's really got to go, then so be it, but I just wanted to make sure.