Bush Manby
red_geckoComment by ursula: Greetings from the Critique Club
I remember seeing this image during the voting stage. My first thought was, "Good candid!" I love the smile, it is so engaging, it is all over his face. The B/W treatment suits the image well. I gave it a 7.
That said, the main "distractions" are the strings in front of the face, and the busy background. The background is part of the story, but it is slightly blurred, so it sort becomes something where you don't know: is it a background, or is it part of the story? The strings, they actually look good in front of his face, but at first glance they are a bit put-offy. In a challenge, most people only look at each image for a few seconds. If something looks odd, they will vote the image a lower score. The strings in front of the face look a bit odd.
As for technicals, I see no problems. The exposure/post-processing are very good.
I hope this helps. If I can be of further help, please let me know.
~Ursula
Photographer found comment helpful.