Yes, we get so many awesome portraits I don't always want to feature them as to spread around the love to all styles. But, I couldn't resist the two out of 3 Hotshot portraits. The four you mentioned also had some great portraits as well. Malos' portrait of the Husky just barely missed the top 3. hahaha Spliddash has also been doing some cool stuff lately as well. Ersus and Suriclicks always bring some great shots to the community as well.
I didn't realize I missed PI day so seeing your post was awesome! You don't have to worry about the technical stuff if you have the passion behind your posts and also if you are creative too. You usually have at least one gem in your posts and that's more than enough. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing your shots here with us. Don't worry about your kitchen either... not everyone has a studio setting to capture their shots! hahaha