Underground Miningby
JudiComment: Greetings from the Critique Club!
This entry is quite well done. The simple composition and minimal use of color add to the photograph's appeal.
While this photograph clearly meets the challenge, it seems to lack that extra "something" that puts it over the ribbon-winning edge. Perhaps if he were doing something other than reading, or if the title gave us some insight as to how the reading tied in with mining, it might have fared even better than the respectable 5.8 score you received.
The composition on this photograph is strong. My first impression was that it could stand to be cropped a bit on the left, but when I actually tried that myself I found the results came up short. The subtle light and shadow on the left side adds a sense of depth that would be lost with cropping.
Your exposure is perfect and makes the best of some very challenging lighting conditions.
Post-processing is well-done as nothing seems needed or missing from that perspective.
It appears your focus probably locked on either the miner's right hand or the tip of his helmet. This is not surprising as these are the areas of greatest contrast in the photo. Unfortunately, this results in the subject's face being slightly out of focus. Focusing manually for this type of photograph may benefit you.
In all, this is a very good photograph. Probably the main reasons it did not score higher is that even though it met the challenge, it was probably not "industrial enough" to get that extra edge in the voting. The focus issue may have troubled some voters as well.
Photographer found comment helpful.
