Thank you all for your kind comments.

I quite agree. As a amateur photographer I enjoy taking pictures of both male and female models (mainly female, I must confess). Some of the shots that I really like are the portrait shots with high contrast etc but these rarely do that well in the viewings when compared to those that show off a bit of lingerie or more! Not so strangely then, my most viewed piece is a high contrast nude! I do like the shot and it has received a fair number of comments but I wouldn't say it was my best one!

Hmmm, having recently joined a local camera club I have noticed that on competition nights no image ever received a mark below a 12/20. It is considered "Bad manners". Personally, I feel that if a photo deserves a 5 it should get a 5. The rating is meant as a guide to how other people view your work. As was mentioned earlier, some people will love an image - others will hate it. So what? The idea is to look at the average mark and judge for yourself how succesful it is. Take criticism with a pinch of salt! If YOU like the image - that's all that matters!