I think it fetched a fairly decent score.
It's technically apt, IMO, complete with catch lights and a reasonably shallow dof.
It's awfully close though, which makes for intimate viewing.
For a portrait, this could be a mixed blessing, since the proximity evokes a definite relationship between subject and viewer.
The other challenge is to frame (order) such a close-up. You can either centre your subject or offset it so that it feels correctly weighted. The centred composition you've chosen is discernibly compromised. As a result, you've lost symmetry, which is usually the point of a centred composition.
Among the things I look for in a photograph are energy, range and story. By energy, with a portrait like this one, I mean emotional energy, by range something like to how many walks of life this image should be of interest and how long such an interest would likely be sustained. By story I mean is there anything beyond the visual givens that's stirred by the shot?
In order to answer these questions, we need to consider what particular facts of the face shown here are given or most prominent. If the emphasis falls on character, temperament and the like, how telling, moving or educational would this be? If the emphasis is on skin tone, features and other aesthetics, how moving or pleasurable an experience? You see where I'm going?
Message edited by author 2008-05-08 16:53:30. |
