New Studio Series for Me...Layers of B/W, Deep Red, Diffuse Glow, Dry Brush, Motion Blur, Glass (Used Magic Wand Tool to separate out some layers by copy), Reduced Noise as well as Dust & Scratches, USM, Enhanced Brightness/Contrast, Resized, Saved for Web...That's about it.
Please check out the thread "What Does a Christian Look Like?" in the RANT category of the forums.
Thanks again to all courageous souls who have & will post. Just remember...I'm not about making people feel bad. I'm all about mental exercise in the sparring ring of RESPECT.
I work out three times a week at 180 Fitness (formerly Gold's Gym) in a Body Pump class. Why shouldn't I exercise my mind with just as much regularity?
"Welcome to Mental Gymnastics! My name is Stan! I'll be your trainer!" :)
Statistics
Place: 122 out of 127 Avg (all users): 4.3333 Avg (commenters): 4.2727 Avg (participants): 4.1091 Avg (non-participants): 4.4129 Views since voting: 1067 Views during voting: 357 Votes: 210 Comments: 14 Favorites: 0
In truth, when i first saw this shot it quite touched me. It may have been more profound as I had just watched the video of Johnny Cash's "Hurt" for the first time in detail. And was very moved.
Composition: I actually really liked the composition on this. I know several people commented regarding the board/bench. But I felt how it hid and partially revealed created a nice effect. I felt the placement of subject and the position of the hand were excellent.
Subject: What can I say, you did a decent job of conveying another man. I felt the subject was quite good and the expression of the subject and the very open eyes as beneficial, especially as it added depth to the photo.
That said, I felt the subject's tenure to the challenge topic was weak. And the reference to a forum thread somewhat iffy. (Albeit, perhaps a good witness but not sure if appropriate and sometimes even a good witness in an inappropriate setting can cause offense when there should be none.)
Technical (Colour, focus, and light): This is where I thik the shot begins to falter. The color is okay a bit drab. And the face perhaps a bit too reddened. I felt the lighting was adequate and supported the shot. The contrast on the hat was lacking though.
The big hit is the focus. Why aren't those eyes sharper? or that finger...I want to see the details of the wrinkly skin. It looks like the focus is more strongly on the board than the subject.
Creativity: I did feel the shot shot a good amount of creativity and fun.
To improve?: Get that focus sharper. Might also suggest some adjustments of color saturation. I don't think your intent was to win the challenge, otherwise I'd say you'd benefit in the future from a stronger kinship between entry and challenge.
Summary: An very thoughtful shot perhaps not quite entered where it could play out best. Perhaps too much potential site politics may have hurt the score.
I did in fact vote on this entry and gave it a 5. It had more potential but lost about a point for focus and a point for weak challenge association. So this shot if polished I think could merit a 7.
It is my hope that these insights are helpful, and constructive. If you have any questions regarding this critique, please feel free to PM me. Also feel free to PM me with any feedback on this critique. And please remember to mark it "Helpful" if you found it so.
Is that Wilson from Home Improvement? I bet this was taken with a Binford 2000. Sorry, couldn't resist it reminds me of his eyes.
Thank you, my friend! You get the prize for finding the inspiration for this photo. The Johnny Cash references were simply an added bonus, since this is a self portrait & I like my cowboy hat.
As to the comments about being confused about the subject, I must confess a bit of pride here. You see, I got so much feed back on a recent thread that I began titled, "What Does a Christian Look Like?" (Now found in the RANT category,) that I started to think that "everyone in the world" had seen it.
However, if you were offended that someone tried to take a picture of a Christian categorized solely by external appearances, then you got the point! Christians come in every shape & size, as it is in any religion or belief system. Only God can see a believer with 100% accuracy!
As to why this was included in this contest,...I don't feel experienced enough now to adequately portray magic, but this photo qualifies for the Biblical definition of a Mystery ("An idea or a person who cannot be fully understood now, but will be clearly revealed at some point in the future.") :) Stan
I get the mystery of who he is, but the title leaves me cold. Compositionally, I would've liked less board. Not really more of him, but less board. Maybe even cutting the picture in half horizontally and showing the top half, with him peeking out. The shot is also very soft in focus; sharpness in his face would add a lot to his expression. And the lighting is pretty dim. All in all, I'm on the fence but I'll give it a minor bump to 5.
totally perplexed by this, given that it beholds no magic and frankly hardly steeped in mystery as i would have thought the question is pretty much unanswerable; you can't have a specific looking member of any organised religion. the set up is just weird - bloke in a hat behind a red bit of timber doesn't really suggest any religious questions at all. and if this is what a christian looks like, isn't it racial stereotyping?
This one doesn't quite click for me. Is it the mystery of what a Christian looks like? (Apparently either like Jonny Cash or the neighbor from Home Improvement. :)) I'm gonna have to go with a 3 on this one. Sorry.
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