The Hope of a New Day
by scooter88

Comment by spiritualspatula:
Hello from the Critique Club-
Although there isn’t a lot of color here, I almost think that works better for the given shot/challenge combination. When considering hope and depicting it using a sky, I associate it with light, white billowy clouds on a blue sky. I think the fact that you didn’t have lots of color helped you avoid one of the clichés of DPC (sunsets). The sky also has a very dreamlike aspect that lends itself well to hopeâ€Â¦ perhaps because of the arrangement of clouds, the colors, or the softness of the water and sky combined.
I like your composition- placing the person in the lower left was a good choice, and due to the angle, the viewer is peering off in the same direction as the subject. The driftwood on the beach adds a bit of interest to the scene as well, but I might̢۪ve left the sand undisturbed in the lower right corner (though this might not have been possible for you). My only suggestion would be that you consider bracketing exposures and combining them or tonemapping (but keep things subtle, because your shot only needs a bit of dynamic range expansion). I say this because the sky is a bit overexposed to me and the sand a bit under.
Great shot, as shown by your placement in the challenge.
-Derek

Message edited by author 2009-03-28 07:08:07.

Sideswiped
by scooter88

Comment by vawendy:
this is actually quite cool! Some people might think that it's not abstract enough. I think it works.

Sideswiped
by scooter88

Comment by jdixonsd:
Nice capture

Sideswiped
by scooter88

Comment by Titia:
For me it could have been a bit more abstract, but overall a very nice photo.

Sideswiped
by scooter88

Comment by bcenu:
Tricky capture. Well done on getting this one.

Sideswiped
by scooter88

Comment by jettyimages:
unusual - its almost cartoon like

Sideswiped
by scooter88

Comment by beijingdave:
Cannot have been easy to capture this.

The Hope of a New Day
by scooter88

Comment by treimee:
Love the lighting and the feel of the photo! Glad to see you didn't put the person in the center of the frame!

The Hope of a New Day
by scooter88

Comment by BJokerud:
I like this one. Maybe the sky is a bit bright, but it works. 6

Joy Inspite of Circumstance.
by scooter88

Comment by ThingFish:
So where was this taken?
My Comment:
Superb portrait of this young African boy chewing on a piece of sugar cane. I am almost sure this was taken somewhere in Natal, South Africa. On the south Coast there, maybe around Illovo or Issipingo.
Of course the worlds largest producers of sugar cane are Brazil and India so this shot could just as well have been taken in Brazil somewhere as they also have a large African population.7