At first view, this image has a gruff sense of it and your eye is drawn directly to the cigar and not the man's details. The lighting seems a tad harsh, giving an almost green cast to the skin tones. That might be remedied in post editing by working with saturation of colors. The crop seems a bit tight and his head has a "chopped off" sense to it. With the shortly shorn haircut and flag in the background, the viewer does get the sense that he's involved in the military somehow. The blue of the shirt is a nice compliment to the flag color, but again, the harsh lighting blanches it out a bit too much. This is probably due to the time of day in which it was taken. Intense summer lighting is brutal during mid day. I do see a tad bit of humor in that the cigar band mimics the flag, but I find it way too distracting for a true portrait image. If he were holding it in his hand with the smoke rising up, it might have been a bit more interesting, as it being in his mouth creates an unnatural facial expression and he almost looks mad.
Having looked at your "Sophistication" entry in high contrast, I know you certainly have a creative eye. It was rated one of my highest!
All the best in your future challenges - you have great work ahead of you.
Terrific image. I'm an old military guy; I love the haircut, love the flag, love the cigar. It's a simple, "F-You" kind of portrait, and all the more powerful for that. The pussies will hate it, which is yet another thing I like about it. 8.
Good portrait. One minor point on flag etiquette: The blue field should always be displayed in the upper left corner of the flag, even when hung down in this manner. (no points off for this though).
What was the victory. the right to smoke a cigar? I like the expression in his eyes and the flag background, but the focus becomes the cigar and takes it away from the man.
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