Don, a native from Los Angeles, moved to Santa Barbara six years ago. Five years ago, he saw a man building stone cairns and was intrigued enough to try his hand at it. Since then, he has branched out from cairn building to sand drawing and driftwood sculptures. Don was originally a businessman. He claims he was never an artist and couldn't draw, let alone build these stone and driftwood creations. He said that retirement (although he hates to use that word) gave him a chance to try out things he never had time for before.
When I met Don, he was building cairns on a large driftwood tree. He had carefully created around 40 cairns of varying heights, covering the length of the tree.
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What a wonderful backstory. It's amazing what a little spare time can allow you to try, and I am so glad that Don has found something so creative to occupy himself with. I love the way you surrounded him with his art, and the textures of the wood and sea-worn stones is a great way to offset your subject.
Technically, the glare on top of his hair is a little distracting, but that's my only real nitpick. The ambient light is great, looks like it was taken during golden hour or just shortly after sunset. The slightly oof quality to his face lends it a feeling of mystery - what business was he in, in his previous life? And what compelled him to start creating art from driftwood and rocks? I find the shallow DOF a little surprising, but it worked well enough to help you get a top 20!
Overall a very lovely portrait of a man who must have some interesting stories, settled comfortably into his new life. Good work!
Seems like your depth of field fell just short of your main subject. If he'd been sitting off to the side, not looking at the camera and the rocks were the main subject, I think this aperture choice would have worked better.
I love land art! Andy Goldsworthy's work inspires me. This portrait gives me the subject, and gives me their story; one of the few that fits the challenge in my humble opinion.
I wonder how this would have worked if he were posed next to one of the pieces instead the way you chose. His power, up close and the power of one structure could be very effective.
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