Also sprach zarathustra
by Oded

Comment:
Energy/Range/Story: 7/7/10
Composition/perspective/manner: 6/7/5
Aesthetics/Technical:5/5
Presentation: 7
Total: 6.5
Vote: 7

Remarks: an utterly wonderful and captivating story. Title provides context without diminishing the mystery. -The subject's expression and demeanor is absolutely riveting, btw.

21.52 Barley and poppy
by Melethia

Comment:
I"m not sure about this being wheat. I might be barley. (?) Here's a b & w of a barley field:

piano man
by nixter

Comment:
Energy/Range/Story: 7/7/7
Composition/perspective/manner: 8/9/8
Aesthetics/Technical:8/7
Presentation: 7
Total: 7.55
Vote: 8

Remarks: one might say that part of the magic is simply trouvée, another due to happenstance and lens, but to see and, presumably quickly, assemble the contradictions into such classic sense, that is quite admirable.

bob the builder
by whiteroom

Comment:
Energy/Range/Story: 7/7/7
Composition/perspective/manner: 6/7/6
Aesthetics/Technical:6/6
Presentation: 6
Total: 6.4
Vote: 7

Remarks: the image is as engaging as a non-union man swinging a stick. Having the subject's eye-level forehead at vanishing point is an edgy choice indeed.

Looking for Hope
by onar

Comment:
Energy/Range/Story: 6/7/8
Composition/perspective/manner: 6/6/6
Aesthetics/Technical:6/5
Presentation: 6
Total: 6.2
Vote: 6

Remarks:

as if
the old man
had entered the installation

so it wouldn't be condemned
to eek out an existence
as a garden ornament.

Prospects
by LanndonKane

Comment:
In response to your forum request for comments regarding your score:

I think it fetched a fairly decent score.

It's technically apt, IMO, complete with catch lights and a reasonably shallow dof.
It's awfully close though, which makes for intimate viewing.
For a portrait, this could be a mixed blessing, since the proximity evokes a definite relationship between subject and viewer.

The other challenge is to frame (order) such a close-up. You can either centre your subject or offset it so that it feels correctly weighted. The centred composition you've chosen is discernibly compromised. As a result, you've lost symmetry, which is usually the point of a centred composition.

Among the things I look for in a photograph are energy, range and story. By energy, with a portrait like this one, I mean emotional energy, by range something like to how many walks of life this image should be of interest and how long such an interest would likely be sustained. By story I mean is there anything beyond the visual givens that's stirred by the shot?

In order to answer these questions, we need to consider what particular facts of the face shown here are given or most prominent. If the emphasis falls on character, temperament and the like, how telling, moving or educational would this be? If the emphasis is on skin tone, features and other aesthetics, how moving or pleasurable an experience? You see where I'm going?

Message edited by author 2008-05-08 17:08:15.

mettams pool
by nixter

Comment:
Energy/Range/Story: 7/7/6
Composition/perspective/manner: 6/6/6
Aesthetics/Technical:8/6
Presentation: 6
Total: 6.4
Vote: 6

Remarks: The somber tonalities are discernibly retained and this de- and refines the whites, the precipitation as well as the wash. The frail, bent railing stemming vs. onslaught of elements appears as surreal as a ladder on flat ground. The proportions, in this images, are well assigned by the camera angle. Given the violence of wave and weather, it's reassuring to find the weight where it belongs, at the bottom, while having enough head-room. :)

Old truck
by Brin

Comment:
Energy/Range/Story: 6/6/7
Composition/perspective/manner: 6/6/7
Aesthetics/Technical:7/6
Presentation: 6
Total: 6.1
Vote: 6

Remarks: The "Old Truck" dominates the image and does, IMO, not require being restated via a title of the same name.

39
by alexgarcia

Comment:
Energy/Range/Story: 6/7/6
Composition/perspective/manner: 6/6/6
Aesthetics/Technical:8/6
Presentation: 6
Total: 6.3
Vote: 6

Remarks: -

Engine 1009
by surfdabbler

Comment:
Energy/Range/Story: 5/6/6
Composition/perspective/manner: 6/5/7
Aesthetics/Technical:7/7
Presentation: 6
Total: 6.1
Vote: 6

Remarks: -