Lemonade...25 Centsby
OneSweetSinComment by melismatica: Sorry, no. I'm sure this is a very sweet kid and you love him very much (judging by how often he turns up in challenges) but this is not an appealing photograph. You've made the kid more prominent than the product. Also, an advertiser wouldn't have a model wearing a shirt with a recognizable character unless that was part of the promotion.
After your angry PM I figured I would elaborate just so you realize I'm not prejudiced against kid photos. I was unsure in our PM comments if you meant that this was an photograph representing advertisement, i.e, the sign on the fence. If that is the case, then you missed the point of the challenge which was to take a photo of product in a way that sells the product. I'm still approaching this from the idea that this is an ad for Smucker's lemonade.
The Scooby Doo t-shirt is very bright, rather cheesy looking, and distracting. As I mentioned in my PM, child models are asked to wear simple, classic, clothing when the clothes aren't the product being advertised. I don't think it would be stretching the notion of realism to have the model wearing a sold, or classic striped t-shirt.
He doesn't actually look like he is selling lemonade because there are no Dixie cups or other type of disposable cups indicating this. There is only that one big glass. You asked if I had ever sold lemonade as a kid. I lived in the boonies as a kid so I sold flowers by the side of the road, not lemonade, but my kids sold lemonade when they were little and they used paper cups. It doesn't look like he is by a road it looks like he is in his backyard, judging by the fence and the glass table top.
The product is secondary to the model and that would never be the case in a real magazine ad.
The lemonade itself has not been photographed in a way to make me want to buy it. It should make me at least think about going to the fridge for a drink. There is very little detail to the pitcher or the glass. You liquid looks dull and opaque and the ice cubes look rather sad and depleted.
The model's expression really isn't all that appealing. His mouth is just sort of hanging open. His eyes are very dark and without a catch light to add sparkle, they appear hollow due to his rather squinty expression. I've tried to be as specific with my critique as possible so you understand that am not just randomly voting down photos with kids in them.
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