And your thoughts on the matter?
ModelMaker
I wish he would have taken the pics all at the same angle above the box, like the pork picture. Overall, I think they look like very good boxes for a first time competitor.
Chicken - hard to tell the color of the chicken, looks dark but could be the angle of the picture not getting enough light on the chicken. I dunk my chicken, so you won't hear oversauced from me. I'm going to give it a 7, but it might be better than what the picture shows. Or might be worse, some of the sauce looks a different color, can't tell if that's the photo or the chicken.
Ribs - I personally don't care for the arrangement but I don't think I would not downgrade for that, especially since the cuts look very straight and smooth. Color looks good. Probably give it an 8.
Pork - the bark looks dry, could have used a spritz before shutting the box but I think the non barked meat looks OK. Not much of an arrangement and my eyes did notice the lettuce, unlike the first two. I'd say 7, spritz the bark and a little bit less lettuce showing it's possibly an 8.
Brisket - the cuts look thick, is that a sign of overcooked meat? And the box looks really full and heavy - not that it's a bad thing but something that crossed my mind. 7, slightly better than average and with a little more care slicing and laying out the slices the scores will go up.
I read alot of comments regarding the garnish (not only here, but a lot of presentation threads) and while attention or lack there of can absolutely make one or break a turn in, I personally try not to take the garnish into consideration when I judge (keep in mind, I only did it once) UNLESS I notice how good the turn in looks on the garnish or how bad the garnish is - did the garnish actually make the box look worse than the turn in would have looked without garnish in the box. I try to keep in mind that a judge is there to judge meat, not greens. I'm not going to give or take away a point because the garnish was perfectly even or not - assuming it's not distracting and I am able to focus on the meat or again, makes the meat look mouthwatering.
My original comment was that I was interested because it seemed as if different regions of the country thought different things regarding sauce and if the pork was dry or looked good.