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05/31/2006 01:32:13 AM |
Greetings from the Critique Club. My critiques are generally geared towards trying to help you improve your score within DPC, and not on any true "artistic" merit of the photograph itself, unless it relates to DPC voters and scoring. Please keep that in mind as you read this.
Initial Thoughts
A distinct lack of contrast and sharpness in key areas here, but a touching and emotive shot.
Composition/Content
The composition has a nice feel for me, with the exception of being a *little* crowded around the facial area. You're a good model, and have a nice presence, so you shouldn't be hesitant to use it to your full potential. I feel quite a shyness here that your look almost tries to belie, but your choice of crop keeps it there. You say it's your first self-portrait, so I think that comes through here in the way that I've said. Slightly shy, but with a deeper "I can do this!" attitude.
Background
Nicely out-of-focus, but a bit flat. I think it'd have been stronger if there was more light-play back there and slightly stronger contrast/color going on.
Camera Work/Technical
A few things that I notice here.
Exposure: Slightly hot on some highlights. This can be difficult to control, but I see you shot RAW, so I'm wondering if you dropped the exposure enough to bring detail back to the highlights, or if they were blown too much for that. If so, then for the future, I'd suggest trying to meter as much for the brightest part of your photo as you can, so to avoid that in the future.
Focus: Focus seems ok, but the photo overall still seems soft. At first I thought maybe the focus had grapped the lip of the hat, but I see it's not so. F/4.8 is a pretty decent aperature for this type of portrait too, from my experience.
Digital Processing
Ok, since the focus seems ok, then a little more work is needed in USM. I'd suggest starting with a 50/0.3/0, and then tweaking from there. Sometimes I find that I can go to a 130/1.3/3 to get the sharpening I need. If you find that your work is sharpening certain areas too much, I'd suggest sharpening on a layer, and then painting back in the original in varying opacities to get the look you wish. The areas here I'd concentrate on are the eyes/facial area, and the leather "belt" on the hat. The entire photo, I think, also could use a touch more sharpening to it as well.
The rest of your processing looks really good. No artifacts from it, and all nice choices from what I can tell. Your skin tones are nice. Contrast is still another thing that is lacking in the darker areas of the image.
Fits the Challenge
Unless it's not you, it definitely fits.
My Opinion of the Photo
A nice photo showing some conflicting emotion, and requiring just a few little tweaks to really stand it out. I love the look you have, but the cropping isn't my favorite. Still, a 6+ is never a bad score, so you resonated well with the voters. Good job, and good luck in future challenges. |
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 Photographer found comment helpful. |
Comments Made During the Challenge  |
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05/23/2006 07:15:55 PM |
| Delightful! 9. Nice brown eyes too. |
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05/22/2006 12:46:44 PM |
| good image, might be a good "out back" steak house ad. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/21/2006 11:42:55 PM |
| Very good composition and light. Well done. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/21/2006 06:33:57 PM |
| I think I would like this better with more of a full-length composition, with the fence clearer. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/21/2006 09:50:09 AM |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/20/2006 02:03:58 PM |
| I love the close crop. You include enough background to provide context, but not too much so that it become distracting. Nicely done. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/20/2006 12:01:11 PM |
| Yee haw! Nice self portrait...I like the fence in the background. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/20/2006 11:08:54 AM |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/20/2006 01:16:09 AM |
| like the bokeh and composition . |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/19/2006 12:52:15 PM |
| Hey cowboy, where's ya horse? An effective photo! |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/19/2006 08:02:37 AM |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/19/2006 03:34:26 AM |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/19/2006 03:20:02 AM |
| A nice envrironmental self portrait - great job with lighting and expression |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/19/2006 01:01:57 AM |
| the crop seems a bit tight - perhaps if you included the fence you are leaning on it would be better. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/19/2006 12:48:06 AM |
| Very well done, this shot is awesome! |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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05/19/2006 12:17:11 AM |
| You have a very sincere face. Nice focus & dof. Good luck. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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