Eye of the storm
by bobdaveant

Comment by skylen:
Yuck, somebody needs a shave. :) No, seriously, this is pretty creative. The lighting is rather dramatic and interesting too. I might prefer to not have the highlight on the edge, because it draws the eye out of the composition instead of letting the eye follow the spiral.

Eye of the storm
by bobdaveant

Comment by Fibonacci:
What's this one about then?....Hmm....It "looks" like a storm with all that swirly motion stuff going on....Hmmm.

Funny....I seem to recognise what this is but it's....it's......"complex"

Great idea, well worth the time taken to work it out. Most photos in this challenge offer an "obvious" image of complexity. In my view, yours is a true interpretation of the theme........10

Eye of the storm
by bobdaveant

Comment by Anachronite:
complex yes... an interesting pattern... but getting that close to another dude makes the pic not enjoyable to look at.. lol.. all I can think is hey man, quit crowding me...

Eye of the storm
by bobdaveant

Comment by ccasey:
This looks like somebody's beard--crazy.

Eye of the storm
by bobdaveant

Comment by Everyday Renee:
What is this??

Eye of the storm
by bobdaveant

Comment by digistoune:
It will be interesting to discover just what this is a photo of... tadpoles?? Who cares, I like the lines; They do a very nice job of directing the viewers eye. Nice title as well.

Eye of the storm
by bobdaveant

Comment by claudia26:
very unusual head shot indeed

Eye of the storm
by bobdaveant

Comment by Falc:
About time you had a shave ;-)

Eye of the storm
by bobdaveant

Comment by Pixelstate:
Stubble?

Looking for Grey
by bobdaveant

Comment by bobdaveant:

Originally posted by graphicfunk: from the critique club: I like this composition. The lighting is very interesting and the reflection angle is great. If you notice that the strongest lit area cuts at a diagonal angle and this gives the image a lot of appeal. It certainly invites the eyes for further inspection. This angle sends the eye to the actual subject in the shadow. The reflected image has one big plus while the resting hand has a deawback. The plus is the clarity of the eyes with great catch lights and that ideal translucency apparant on the left eye. The minor draw back is that the viewer's eyes eventually fall on the nails and while the hands and fingers are attractive the peculiar color shift which divorces itself from the rest of the blue coloration is not. The eye then researches for the why of this greenish-blue tint. Sure enough, more artifacts are found in the ear, the ridge of the nose and the furrow down the side of the mouth. Well, this has a disconcerting feel. It is in the property of the tint. However, there is a way around this and that is by creating a layer with the tint wanted and then to decide on the mode. Even under normal with a low opacity will hold a consistent coloration. This is an involved process to produce a high optimum tint and there are many approaches and the most popular in hard printing is the duotone process. Again, the comp and the lighting shows that you have a very good eye and the minor problem is merely in the processing.

Thanks much for your insightful critique. It was a very welcome to receive!