The facelight is a maglite, and the red lines from a laser pointer. I stood to one side during a 30" exposure and shone the pointer at the wall behind him. I lit his face for 8 seconds or so, after some experimentation.
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Place: 243 out of 284 Avg (all users): 4.5424 Avg (commenters): 4.5556 Avg (participants): 4.2302 Avg (non-participants): 4.8205 Views since voting: 1105 Views during voting: 470 Votes: 295 Comments: 21 Favorites: 0
Hi Mark, and greetings from the Critique Club!
Well I have an advantage over all the commentors below in that I know (because of your comments) that the softness is really not poor focus, it's just miniscule and unavoidable subject movement during such a long exposure. The idea is impressive ... the image conveys exactly what I imagine you intended; a kind of "trapped in a high-tech world" feeling. The creation of a virtual cage using laser light is a clever device for that theme. The soft 'focus', the limited tonal range, the restricted colour palette and the flat facial expression of the subject all add to the impersonal, 'futuristic identity card' character of the portrait. Not a photograph that will appeal to all, but it is undeniably an original and bold entry in this challenge.
Best wishes
Paul Martin
I knew the "not in focus" crowd would beat you down. Been there. I loved the effect. To me it had a trapped in a monitor look and certainly coveyed 'caged'. I gave it an 8!
Nice Picture, a bit too dark on the face. I'm not sure if its the coloring or the shadow but I love the lines and how it works on the right side of the face.
This comes across as an image taken in low light with the wrong white balance. Whereas the yellowish/red tones can usually suggest warmth I think a 'proper' skin tone would be more appealing. The image also looks quite soft and either requires some sharpening or more light to help with focusing. I'm assuming this was a long exposure due to the laser pen markings and that may have been partly the reason why also. The lines do add an unusual interest.
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