Good idea... from a technical point of view, I would have liked to see (at least a part of) the cow a little sharper. Nevertheless, an original and creative approach!
rachael, awesome! how very original! i like this very much conceptually. just a few thoughts that i think would improve the photo: first, the cow's head is a bit out of focus, not much, but a bit more sharpness/clarity here would help greatly. second, i think the dof is fine but i would lose the telephone pole in the background. not by cloning it out but by reshooting with a bluer sky. perhaps with some interesting clouds. i'm a sucker for a nice deep blue sky ;^)
i realize that there is nothing you can do about the sky and am glad you caught this anyhow. i could also suggest to use an nice tree as background but i know those are even harder to find in kansas ;^)
btw, i think your image is worth more than a 4 simply based on originality but i think you got nailed by the anonymous lowballer.
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