Coconut Seller
by srichmond

Comment by Blackbox:
What an excellent photo - however, I personally don't get the feeling of 'Candid': it almost looks like he's posing for the photo.

Coconut Seller
by srichmond

Comment by JJWoolls:
this is a good photo, but I think with him looking directly into the camera like that it looks a little too much like a portrait. Maybe if he was looking to the side or something...

Coconut Seller
by srichmond

Comment by Alicia:
My first impulse is to give this an 8. The colors are very appealing to me - all muted with a bit of red and aqua to interest the eye. There is nothing in the photo that is not interesting, including the objects above the man's head. They add visual diversity and enhance the subject.

The coconuts on the left are excellent, of course - because he is, afterall, the coconut seller. Love the anachronistic watch and what looks like to be a cell phone - nice elements.

Now for the drawbacks... the man is looking straight into the camera. By virtue of that fact, this photo is not candid. There have been tons of discussions about this on the boards and the general consensus seemed to be - and I agree - it has to LOOK candid, regardless if it is or not. Even if it IS candid, but doesn't LOOK like it - it's not a candid photo.

So in that spirit, the fact that this is a full on, straight into the camera portrait bothers me for this particular challenge. For free study or another themed challenge this would obviously not be an issue. Since it is such an excellent image in composition and quality as well as in visual interest, I would assume it will score high.

My initial impulse is thwarted by the un-candidness of this submission. But because it's a fantastic shot, I am voting it a 6.

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This comment courtesy the Viral Comment Experiment (VCE). The VCE is an experiment to see if a large number of quality comments can be generated in a fashion similar to chain letters. The first time you receive a VCE comment, randomly choose five (5) images from this challenge (or another challenge) and leave quality, useful comments/critiques like this one. Make sure to mention good things as well as bad things. Then, see how many you receive in return over the next few weeks. Make sure you copy this VCE notice at the end of each comment. [Obligatory chain letter threat] If you do not make five quality comments within 24 hours, your hard drive will crash and your camera's shutter will fail at an inopportune moment.

Coconut Seller
by srichmond

Comment by jblaylockrayner:
Nice capture - Like the quality but it doesn't seem very candid to me.

Coconut Seller
by srichmond

Comment by posthumous:
looks more like an environmental portrait... and a very good one...

Coconut Seller
by srichmond

Comment by TooCool:
I'm afraind that this looks to posed to do well in this challenge.
TC

Coconut Seller
by srichmond

Comment by AdrienneGC:
Nice shot. Neat perspective into another culture.

Coconut Seller
by srichmond

Comment by Shadowi6:
Intresting shot, nice colours

Coconut Seller
by srichmond

Comment by Judi:
Good candid...but too much dark tones for this to shine.

Coconut Seller
by srichmond

Comment by JeffDay:
This is a great Portrait