Ok, some details...
On sunday it was the only sunny day in 2 weeks so I took advantage and went to the seaside, at Ostende (Belgium). There was some boat exhibition and they were selling boat decorations and different kinds of fish (fried, smoked, boiled...pick your favorite).
The guy in the photo was actually making smoked fish and meanwhile he was just posing for the public. The smoke aside comes from the smoking fish inside some big cans.
Statistics
Place: 30 out of 273 Avg (all users): 6.3091 Avg (commenters): 7.6471 Avg (participants): 6.0816 Avg (non-participants): 6.4350 Views since voting: 1819 Views during voting: 416 Votes: 275 Comments: 22 Favorites: 2 (view)
Please feel free to PM me with any comments or questions.
First impression: Nice environmental portrait. Love the character, and his expression, but missing his feet! :) He looks like the sea has tossed him around, shook him up, and dropped him in the middle of your picture. Perfect pose, dignified, but rough around the edges.
Technicals: Nice and sharp, maybe a little contrasty but it doens't hurt the pic in my opionion. My monitor shows his skin tones as a little bit on the red side, again, considering the style of the picture i dont think it hurts the pic(its just me being a little picky :))
Composition: Just the missing feet bother me. I like the inclusion of the smoke drifting through the frame. Makes the picture come alive and provides a dynamic element to the pic.
Nice score in this stiff competion! This would have also done very well in the enviromental portrait challenge i'm sure. I looked at your original and im not convinced you made the right choice. The light was pretty harsh but thats OK, he is a rugged/harsh looking character so it might not have hurt you. But, you scored very well so congrats.
Hi everybody,
Thanks for the comments.
I recieved some comments saying that I shouldn't have cut the feet off....and I agree. But I had no choice. In the original image, the right foot is in full sun, thus completly blown out, and even with advanced editing I was not able to redo his foot (I am still noy good at that yet). Here's the original.
Cheers,
Bianca
I like the grittiness of this photo - it seems very purposeful and appropriate... what I don't care for is the fact that you choose (either in camera or in photoshop) to crop out the feet of this man - especially almost right at his ankles. One lesson I've learned in photojournalism and from listening to the pros is that if you have to cut out limbs/body parts, don't do it right at the joint. I wish I could see the feet and the yellow boots, I think it would add to the photo. Anyway... -8-
Now he's the kind of bloke you want to take to a bar and get some of the stories out of him. I like this shot - you've managed to capture a certain pride there, an elegance, where I think many more simple photographres might have tried to make him seem just dirty and slightly distasteful. Fine work.
Possibly and by far the most penetrating image to be found in this challenge. It is like an image that meets, exceeds and then soars above the entire collection. The subject and the relevant surroundings are too real and the facial/body expression has no equal. I certainly hope that the voters will show their appreciation. You have my good score. Bump.
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