Harry The Egg Manby
hotpastaComment by TooCool: From the Critique Club:
I wanna start off by saying that this is my favorite type of shot to critique and I'm glad I pulled it from the queue. What do I mean by this? It may not be the most excellent shot, but there is so much potential there that I have to stop and look again!
This critique begs for my what I like and what I don't like format...
What I like! You captured an incredible moment in time. The look on the gentlemans face is priceless! He has an incredible pride in what he does and it shows in his expression and your capture. He also has incredible character. I love the taped together glasses and his wonderful grin. There are layers of great texture and leading lines in this shot. The texture is in the eggs and egg crating. The lines are there both in the eggs and the space that they are displayed. You obviously used a wide angle lens. This is apparent in the overall feel of the shot. Not having seen the original, I would say that your choice to go b/w is a good one but I can't be 100 percent on that point.
What I don't like. This is a bit harder. Everything in the crop left of the post on the left third line is unneeded. It distracts and detracts from the shot. A lot of that portion of the shot is blown out which doesn't help anything... You shot is a touch skewed. It's not level. A little more skewed and it would look artsy. The way it is now looks like you didn't take time to straighten the shot in camera. Looks a little sloppy. You are a touch soft here. Most times I like soft focus, but this looks more like it is OOF or your focal point is in the wrong place. I may be wrong on this issue but without seeing a full sized original I can't tell. You lose your subjects left (right in image) elbow in the shadows of the background. The subjects dark clothing against the dark background is a bit of a distraction.
I truly like this shot. I like the overall compostion minus the left side of the frame. I love the character of the subject. I love the textures. If I was you, I would see if he would let me shoot him again. It may take a couple of tries, but I see an potential award winning shot here. Please, keep shooting! If you go back and shoot this subject again, PLEASE post your results here! I will be watching for it.
Yours
TC
Photographer found comment helpful.
