Topic wise, I really like the picture. Burned out matches look really nice. At first look the matches themselves stick out easily for the eye to see them. Though the picture is little dark, maybe too dark. The matches kinda melt to the darkness(though it's slightly better at high resolution) so it's hard to see any details on the matches. Also at high resolution it's clear that the image is soft. To avoid this use a tripod, a table or anything you can put your camera nicely so that it won't move all too much after you push the trigger.

Definitely a nice image for your first attempt, nyaa. Keep it up and you'll get some excellent pictures.

a great first attempt.............although you said it was your first 'digital' cam, I suspect it is not your first cam!!!. The shot is composed reasonably well, although the focus could have been better. The subject works well in black and white. If this is what you are going to turn out, you will do well soon.....good luck

Thank you for the tips. I did in fact use a tripod but for some reason I still had issues with the picture coming out blurry. I suspect it is due to the long exposure I had and the camera moving ever so slightly when I hit the shutter button. I am currently working on a solution to that little problem.
And yes, this is my first cam (other than point and shoot). Thanks for the encouragement!

Oh...there's an easy solution for that. The camera should have a timer, so use the timer instead of pushing the trigger yourself. So when you yourself push the shutter it won't take the shake from that as the actually trigger is going to be few seconds later, therefore you can avoid the shake from pushing the shutter.

Another option is to get a external remote/shutter for the camera, which also neglects the trouble coming from pushing the shutter yourself.

I'm ordering the remote/shutter today but using the camera's timer in the meantime is a brilliant idea. Thanks a bunch!

nicely done, good comp and tone, nice B&W subject...as stated before, to prevent all camera shat, either the timer or a cable release of some sort will definitely help...nice entry author

Thank you for all the comments and suggestions, everyone. I will be reshooting this tonight with a timer and hopefully it will be much less soft. It should also be noted that I am getting help and advice from a photography buddy of mine (the same one who inspired me to take this up). Without his expertise and advice there is NO WAY I would have been able to set up a low key shot.

Maybe a little too dark, indeed... though the composition is quite striking!
BUT, I will repeat what I wrote to an entry above:
"This is about something which is packaged in 6... like 6 eggs, 6 cigars, etc. The rules are that the subjects of the photo should be 6 in number, should be packed, and should be countable so that we will be sure that it is a '6 pack.'"
So, for as much as you have only six matches, it is really not a 6-pack, but rather, a pack with only 6 matches left in it...

another example of if the object don't come in a package of 6, YOU pack them... I think it's on theme

Locks... I make my same "re"comment here as I did in the former image... Forget my pickiness and I will stick to:
Maybe a little too dark, indeed... though the composition is quite striking!
lol

great idea.... gl

nice try , but a bit out of focus , good luck !

Lamantine the fact that it's oof has already been discussed in depth, I think the author might want to hear a fresh comment.