Welcome to DPC, and congratulations on your first submission. I think you've done very well for a first attempt - 5.5 is nothing to be sniffed at.
Must say that my first impression was that you took a bit of a risk with this submission, as DPC voters can be notoriously exacting about entries not satisfying their understanding of the challenge. Fortunately it looks like you only got one sever DNMC vote. kurv's suggestion to title it differently might have mitigated this.
The great strength of this image is it's heavy emotive connotations. The model (yourself, I think) has done an excellent job of conveying the sense of a more than merely physical gap. This could perhaps have been emphasised further by having the seats closer together, and perhaps a glimpse of the forlorn face. I would really like to echo Sachlichkeit's feedback on the general tome of the image - somethign a little darker would have facilitated the mood more. Personally I like the background as it evokes a sense of past experiences shared and memories being relived. In terms of general composition I think this would have worke da little better with the subject closer to the bottom of the frame (but still keeping the textured wood in the frame - maybe a higher point-of-view for the camera would have achieved this.
The image is technical sound, although could probably do without the blow-outs on the shirt. You haven't mentioned your post-processing steps so I can't comment too much here. It doesn't look as if you have doen too much, other than maybe some light sharpening.
It is my hope that these insights are helpful and constructive. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions regarding this critique. And please remember to mark it "Helpful" if you found it so. Good luck with future challenges.
Thanks so much for those who voted and left comments, even if good or bad. This was my first challenge, and to place 56th out of 120 is not all that bad for a first submission. I'll take all feedback and maybe do better next time!
This image is well composed. However, I think you could've done a few things in post processing to strengthen the viewers emotional connection with the loss that the man is feeling at his (wifes?) absence.
Sudden loss is a powerful and reality altering experiance. Shot in black and white, with some dodging and burning to darken the dock foreground and the distracting trees in the background would automatically draw the viewers attention to the center of the image--the grieving man and the empty seat. Because of the composition, the center (the base of the chair to the top of the man) tells me everything I need to know. Emphasize it.
Strong emotional idea, nice location. If you had waited a couple more hours for the sun to set the light would have made all the difference, and seems a little but short on contrast IMO.
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