Staring into the Oceanby
kmbr2001Comment by KiwiChris: Hi-ho from the Critique Club...
This is a classic 'Subject looking away into distance' portrait, which you've pulled off quite well.
Your composition is good, with the 1/3rds rule applied quite well and the subject staring into the photo, rather than out of it.
As a couple of comments noted the shadows on the eyes are a little distracting. A portrait often works better with good light in/around the eyes. Possbily some fill flash, or a white reflector placed below the subject (Big bit of white paper would do it) to bounce some light up. On a beach you get often the effect from the sand anyway, but the sun is quite bright from above in this case.
I personally don't mind the blue, it is quite a bright colour compared to the rest of the shot, and certainly grabs my attention, but there is enough detail in the face to avoid getting 'stuck' on it. The background is not distracting, and adds just the right level of context to the photo. Your subject is looking out to sea, and my eyes tend to follow the line of his gaze, re-enforced by the strip of darker land in the background.
The only thing I don't like here is the post-processing you've used. There appears to be a 'fringe' around the blue hoody, and the detail in the sand has a slight 'double vision' look about it. You've softened the background but unfortunatley created a distraction at the same time. Generally you don't want editing to compete with the subject for attention in a portrait.
Overall a nice shot, with only a few minor negatives for me.
Cheers, Chris H.
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