First shot of '05! This picture's sole purpose is to give me something to keep track of. I don't think I'm gonna enter the candid challenge (though I might) so that'd be a few days before Waldo started. Basic, set up my tripod and my light and acted crazy in front of the camera. At 1:30 in the morning.
Influences on this picture (something I'm gonna do with every entry in 2005): I was listening to the following songs while shooting this picture: Dude Looks Like a Lady by Aerosmith, Penny Lane by the Beatles, and Come Together by the Beatles.
Statistics
Place: 75 out of 135 Avg (all users): 5.2136 Avg (commenters): 5.8889 Avg (participants): 5.0000 Avg (non-participants): 5.3385 Views since voting: 929 Views during voting: 315 Votes: 206 Comments: 11 Favorites: 0
I love the hat/bed hair. It's just great. This strikes me as a really gutsy entry, by virtue of the fact that it departs from the "artsy" norm. It's fun, it's free, it's fabulous, and it doesn't pretend to be anything it's not. It's just a silly picture!
Given that, of course, people might tend to mark you down. A lot of voters on this site are very picky about what they give high marks; they have their rubric and if the shoe don't fit, well, that's all there is to it. I think the final score was too conservative myself.
Not to say there's not room for a bit of improvement. (There always is. Unless you're one of those guys who's earned several dozen ribbons--in which case you may well be beyond criticism.) The lighting is pretty good, but a bit flat--somewhat higher contrast would have helped accentuate the facial features. The grey background is good, I think, though it could have stood to be a bit lighter (to differentiate from the skin tones, and because a lighter tone reflects, to some degree, a lighter mood), and the darker areas on the right is a bit distracting.
The cropping is good; I would probably have done the same myself. The eyes are expressive enough as it is. Speaking of the eyes, since they are such a prominent feature in this picture, it would probably have been good to clone out some of the veins in your right eye, at which I find myself staring.
But really, it's a good picture. I would have given it a 7 myself. Keep shooting :)
Nice crop and composition. Image needs more highlights, this is basically midtones and shadows. Shadow on the right side of the frame adds even more to the "dark" feeling. This is the type of image that needs to be light and upbeat. High key would've worked well here. This feels dark, gloomy, and depressing.