The Old Fishermanby
jrjrComment by frisca: Greetings from the Critique Club!
I didn't get a chance to vote on this photo, but am pleased to give you my thoughts now.
Colour, Composition and Contrast
Let me dive right in with composition. This is generally a landscape (though nearly square) portrait, which is unusual for a portrait but can be a very effective way to present an image and give it impact. I think its most effective when you use all elements of the image, ie. background, forground (if applicable) and the subject to work together in the composition. Putting your subject on a 3rd line is one example, and using your focal distance to create some blur (or "bokeh") in the background is also effective. Also, if you are going to choose landscape, i would use a larger ratio, meaning, make it longer than it is high by a lot more than you have now. If you were going for square, go for perfect square. It looks more deliberate and that helps an image.
As for the colour and contrast, I think that the colours are less compelling than the features of your subject and I would have desaturated the image to really convey that feeling of a weathered lone fisherman. The redness of his skin draws too much attention and makes it look like a less polished shot without a clear message. I think using one of the many methods to desaturate, including the channel mixer method (my favourite because of the level of control) you can really make this image something special.
Another composition option that might give the shot more precise viewer "focus" would have been to crop closer to your subject and cut out distracting background details like that bright white spot to the left of the subject (our right). Keep in mind that if you are shooting someone and its NOT a candid, you can ask them to move to a different place with a better background.
Focus and Lighting
The face is a bit out of focus and that really distracts from the image. Your subject is this man and his face and so you should ensure you have captured the most detail with a better focus than is present.
My only comment with respect to lighting is that i wish the lighting differed on the bg as on the subject. This was probably not possible with this shot as it is outdoors and I doubt you had a studio lighting kit in your back pocket!
Overall
Overall, this is an image that appears to be struggling to find its voice. A few processing changes could really assist, but you are still left with poor focus on the face of the subject and that makes it difficult to improve THIS image more. A good effort though! Good luck in future challenges.
Photographer found comment helpful.
