Ok so this is most defenetly not a winner but I was out today shooting some potraits and decided to try a high contrast version of this photo. I know that I'm probably going to get some comments on the composition as Thyri (the girls name) is positioned at the center of the frame. But as this was the only photo from the shooting that could be turned into high contrast I had no other choise. I although have to admit that I kind a like it.
Thanks to Thyri Drofn Konradsdottir for beeing my model for the day!
PS workflow:
Channel mixer layer
Hue/Saturation layer
Gradient Map layer
Rotating and Cropping
Minor cloning
Sharpening
Border
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Greetings from the Critique Club, Andri.
There's no doubt that you have produced a high contrast image, even though that was not your intention when actually shooting it. So I think there are two other aspects of the image to discuss.
First, the centred composition. As you predicted in your comments above, some voters did not like the centering and some did. My view is that slavishly following the 'rule of thirds' is just like slavishly following any other rule ... it's boring and it kills originality (I can't help thinking of your strange but undeniably original fellow Icelander; Bjork). However, the rule of thirds does work, so if you are going to depart from it, there should be a good reason. And in this case I think you have one; the two almost identical windows, with their similar reflections, make an unusual and interesting bracket around your model.
And that leads to the second discussion point; interest. The model is doing nothing in this shot. She's just squatting and looking off to the side in a vaguely distracted and passive manner. She's pretty, but that in itself isn't enough to create a high level of interest for the viewer. So if the subject doesn't stimulate the viewer's imagination, curiosity or emotions, then something else has to. Which is why I think you were right to use the more challenging centred composition ... it establishes something for the viewer to think about, even if it's just to consider how the windows and the subject together form a face shape. Not much to occupy the mind, but it is something.
My conclusion is that this is an interesting image only because of its odd composition. Like you, I kind of like it, but as I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Thyri, the image is not an especially memorable one for me.
Cheers,
Paul Martin
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