Naturallly Complemented
by ericwoo

Comment by elru21:
Hello from the critique club,

You have already received many very helpful commments. I considered this for awhile before going on to read what others had to say, so I hope that I can add something to the discussion.

My favorite part about this image is the composition. I love all of the diagonal lines and the shape of the red leaves. I like how the red flower cuts into the frame from one direction and the green leaves form lines in the opposite direction. I like how the longest red flower/leaf comes all the way across the very bottom of the image. It keeps my eye from trailing out the bottom of the frame and sends me looking back upwards. The weakest part of the composition, as you know, is the blank space of the window.

It feels like there is a bit of an upward camera angle, which I like here. Kind of like the greenery is towering above the viewer. Maybe this could have been exagerrated with an even steeper angle? Could you have gotten even closer to the base and really shot up at it?

As you mention in your comments there is some significant loss of detail in both the reds and the greens. THis may be from your exposure or your processing, I am not sure. More detail and contrast in the leaves and flowers would give the image more texture and depth. I like the highly saturated colors, though. I think it works for this image (although it probably contributed a bit to the detiail loss).

For the challenge, the mix of red and green is bang on. I didn't vote in the challenge, but I would have given this a 6. I think it can be very hard at a place like a botanical gardens to separate all of the intense visuals of flowers and plants and find the photograph lurking within. This is a very well seen shot that meets the challenge well, but with some technical limitations.

Please feel free to pm me if you have any questions about any of my commets.

Cheers,
Liza

No place to lie his weary head, but $5 richer this day.
by ericwoo

Comment by Melethia:
Trading Post comment
The thing I noticed first about this picture was his expression; the second thing I noticed was his socks. I'm not sure if this was what people were looking for in this challenge, but it's a good "street candid" of an interesting character. I'm not sure about the golden tones - don't dislike it that way, but I think I may have preferred it in pure B&W.

No place to lie his weary head, but $5 richer this day.
by ericwoo

Comment by DanSig:
[[trading post]]

this is a nice portrait, but I think the sephia tone isn't helping the image, the image doesn't look old, so sephia doesn't work well, but B/W with some dodge and burn might make it pop.

and to cut his leg might be a good idea, just in the middle of the leg so you loose the white socks.

just my 2¢

Up, up and away
by ericwoo

Comment by Lilhoop:
nice find for rhythm. angle is perfect for your photo.

No place to lie his weary head, but $5 richer this day.
by ericwoo

Comment by espy2:
To know the real stories after challenge always puts the light on in a dark room. However, upon first seeing this photo without the explaination, to me it looks as if it is nothing more than a snapshot of a relative or friend which you happened to catch while they were talking to you personally. He looks clean and healthy. Nothing really grabs you as a candid. Could be anyone, but not someone I would see as homeless or destitute. Therefore the title didn't even do it for me. The title seemed like an afterthought. There is just really nothing exuding a mood or feeling of opression from him other than a guy sitting on wall. Also, the background doesn't work either. Had he been in the corner of a paperstrewned or polluted alley, maybe then. But as it looks right now, it is just a guy that was taken a picture of. This just doesn't work for me as a photojournalism shot; however, with that said, I have seen some real front page pic's this month that don't seem to be great shots either. LOL...My own didn't work either, but it was my first lightning capture ever..LOL..so I just had to enter it - not to mention I tried for hours to get it! LOL..

No place to lie his weary head, but $5 richer this day.
by ericwoo

Comment by timfythetoo:
Way to go in actually engaging your subject before shooting. I have not really gotten the guts to do that whole hog yet. I figured he was homeless, but he does look pretty clean and orderly. His socks look in better condition than my own. I think that if you had captured a shot that was more candid - with him looking down or away - you would have scored higher. Technically the pic seems fine. Good detail and sharpness, duotones work well. The overall interest level just isnt high in my opinion. A grungier guy or different pose would have helped change that.

No place to lie his weary head, but $5 richer this day.
by ericwoo

Comment by Kelli:
Trading post...
I actually voted this a 7. I'm surprised it didn't do better. Great facial expression. The feet were blown out though. If you look close you can see toes, otherwise it looks like socks. I guess the 'clean' look of him hurt you as homeless usually equals dirty.

No place to lie his weary head, but $5 richer this day.
by ericwoo

Comment by chalice:
If I hadn't read your comments I wouldn't have found anything exceptional about this guy - except that he has an expressive face (that's probably because there is no way to photograph a person to reveal their speech). Fairly clean socks don't suggest hard times either. I do think this photo is a good portrait. I like the slight blurring of the background so as to reduce distractions. The monochromatic tone works well too.

Up, up and away
by ericwoo

Comment by BeeCee:
Great light makes this a very powerful image.

No place to lie his weary head, but $5 richer this day.
by ericwoo

Comment by DefyTime:
Great shot for the challenge