Found the Missing Link
by jessie

Comment by BrianR:
Well found, maybe less background would have helped....9

Shipmate's View
by jessie

Comment by KiwiChris:
Greetings from the critique club...

First impressions first:

Cool looking subject, but the photo just doesn't do it for me...

He's staring straight at you, and wondering why you're taking his photo, which is a great candid in that respect, but we can't really see his eyes, as the sunglasses obscure them a bit.

His Head is also slightly detached, as his overalls and the background are so dark, which is a little off-putting with the flat lighting you've caught here. Solid dark backgrounds tend to work better when the subject is lit more from one side, to give more shape to the person/object.

The other slighting distracting thing is the earmuffs. Candid pictures should tell a wee story, give us some insight into the person. Without reading your comments I have no idea why he is wearing the muffs, who he is, where he is etc. If you look at the images that did well in this challenge you'll notice that most (There are some exceptions to this rule!) tell a more complete story, they have the person(s) and some other stuff. They have background that tells the story, or the people are doing something.

I'm not sure how much you cropped out of this, but if you had kept some of the door frame, which would no doubt be metal with lumpy paint, and possibly some fittings or some sort, then I would tell at a glance that this chap was working on a boat, or at least somewhere industrial. I'd get a connection to why he is wearing the muffs and overalls, and I'd know he was an 'old sea salt' sort of person.

From a technical aspect you've got a colour tint which I suspect is reflected light from the deck.. Again without seeing some of his surroundings this is a little off-putting, although not a major issue.

It feels also looks a little under exposed to me, and I think you've tried to boost it in post editing to bring it up a little, which is where the noise comments have come from during voting.

The focus also seems slight soft, or you've cropped out a small section of the middle, and it was only scaled down slightly. Combined with the pushed exposure this would give you the soft looking feeling to the image.

A few people complained about the border as well, I dunno about that, it keys with the red on the muffs, I'm not fussed either way on borders, although I would have preferred to see the door of the boat, as it would have made a far better image to have the environment described in that way.

Don't be discouraged by this, it's only my opinion and Candids are tough if you're not a keen people photographer!

Cheers, Chris Hellyar.

Shipmate's View
by jessie

Comment by Shadowi6:
dont know why the title, & I dont like the border, great character thou. Good luck

Shipmate's View
by jessie

Comment by emayner:
this looks more posed, than a candid

Shipmate's View
by jessie

Comment by TooCool:
I'm sure it's not because of the headphones but this looks a little to posed to do good in a candid challenge.
TC

Shipmate's View
by jessie

Comment by JJWoolls:
Too much noise for my tastes...

Shipmate's View
by jessie

Comment by Caltrop:
I think with this shot I would have liked to see more of the surroundings and the reason for his headset. It is a little grainy too - not sure if that was intended.

Shipmate's View
by jessie

Comment by karmat:
If the focus here was sharper, or obviously intentionally soft, I think it would be much more effective. As it is, it looks slightly out of focus and grainy.

Shipmate's View
by jessie

Comment by jonfrommk:
Does not really say candid to me as he appears to be looking directly to camera. Red border kinda works with the darkness of the edges of the picture and the headphones .

Interesting capture

Shipmate's View
by jessie

Comment by gerdagrice:
Interesting study, but the greenish colour cast and the noise in parts of the image are distracting. 5