Big thanks to Les (AperturePriority) for inviting me on this hike in Aliso & Woods Canyon Wilderness Park's "Dripping Cave," and for bringing along his daughter (holding an SB-600 off camera left) and her boyfriend (pictured). Thanks for humoring me and not getting peeved by my constant presence in the way of your shots :D
Additional lighting provided by an SB-900, bare off-camera left on the ground.
PP was heavy; let's just say I used both Photomatix AND Topaz (Bad Zack! Bad!).
Hopin' for above a six, as per usual.
Statistics
Place: 28 out of 93 Avg (all users): 5.9118 Avg (commenters): 7.2857 Avg (participants): 5.6757 Avg (non-participants): 6.0000 Views since voting: 1017 Views during voting: 300 Votes: 136 Comments: 11 Favorites: 2 (view)
First Impression: I hate the title with a passion and truly don't understand why people title images like this? Why, oh why didn't you use something like 'Cave Man'? that said this is a stonking portrait and as a few commenters pointed out its more of a portrait shot than a cave shot.
Composition: Spot on, the subject is nicely composed on the right of the frame and you view past his right shoulder into the depths of the cave.
Subject: The challenge topic is caves/tunnels but this is more of a portrait of somebody in a cave and the cave is secondary to the subject in this shot. Of course it meets the challenge but not as well as many submissions.
Technical: Absolutely brilliant imho, as a portrait this is stunning, the lighting is spot on and I love just having half of his face in good light. The placement of your model and level of focus are also just right - a good job.
Final thoughts: I gave this a 6 during voting and tbh thought you would have finished a couple of tenths over 6 but am guessing I, like many felt the cave was secondary to the overall image? I need to be careful here (being a bloke) but going back to my thought of titling this Cave Man I think he should have taken his shirt off (it would have saved him getting mud over his t-shirt as well).
Really like the lighting and the "mangy" look of your subject really adds to the image. If I were to ask for more, it would be to see more of the cave.
I love this picture. I even added it to my favorites. A little fill light on his left cheek is desirable, but even without it, I love it. But here is my issue. The challenge is Caves and Tunnels. Although he is in a cave, the subject matter is not a cave. The cave serves only as a backdrop. He isn't even interacting with the cave. Sorry, just one of my peeves. If the challenge was portraits, I would give it a 7 or 8.
I like how the facial tones agree with the background cave tones (and also the texture, somewhat). The dust/dirt on the front of the model's shirt really helps to blend with the overall feel of the walls and ceiling. Excellent portrait, Zack!
Love the lighting and the grungy processing. Technically very well done but as I've commented on a couple other shots, the subject to me is the man and not the cave. Still meets the challenge to me but the shots I rated higher were also technically well done but the cave/tunnel was the primary subject in them. Beautiful shot overall though.
So unexpected to see a face in this challenge. It's awesome! Your use of texture and the monochromatic colors, not to mention the perfect shadow and light play. WOW - I rarely give 10's but this is ACE in my opinion. I'm giving one out for this fine image.
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