obcese with the pastby
marcoesquivelComment by snaffles: Greetings from the Critique Club!
I would see this as more of a portrait than pieces of the human form, but we'll get to that later. It is an interesting shot, but with the blurriness and poos lighting, does have a very snapshot-feel to it (as a commenter noted, looks like old-school Polaroid). To me, it looks like the kind of shot you would see in an Ann Rule true crime book. Composition is there but rather crude.
You shot with a good camera and lens (probably too much lens for this shot, an 18-55mm or similar lens would have done just fine) and apart from the light, fairly decent settings, so here it's the subject matter that turned off voters more than anything else.
Though the gun isn't pointed at the viewer, it is a highly disturbing image. Is the gun really necessary? If your grandpa has so much history behind him, let his hands or face tell the story.
You may want to try this: starting at the last page of all the entries in the challenge (or any challenge, for that matter) work your way up to the first page/top 10 challenge entries. Watch how the quality of the photos changes, how the subject matter fits the challenge, how the technicals like lighting and composition play a part.
Feel free to PM me with any questions,
Susan
