Please critique this photo

[mellowinman]

I'm not asking for anything specific. I'm asking that you give me your impressions. Please be as detailed as you possibly can. This is very important to me. Thank you.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g123/mellowinman1/003c.jpg

[Mad Aussie]

Happy to. :)

Firstly, I personally don't consider this a photo at all. I understand it was taken with a camera and the original IS a photo ... but this, to me, is an image due to the processing that has now covered/disguised the photographic quality. It now has a more painterly feel.

That said ... there's no reason to not critique it as a photo as I can still see what the original looked like to some degree.

I like the pose. I like the composition also. The lighting appears to have been nice, almost a rembrandt feel to the lighting although some shadows give clue to a frontal flash I think.

Not sure if the processing caused it, but the image has a heavy orange cast. Perhaps it was intended.

The piece of wall looks a bit odd against his head to my eye. Perhaps if he was further along so we could see the wall on the right side (as we look at this) also it would look better.

That's about all I have :)

[mellowinman]

Happy to. :)

Firstly, I personally don't consider this a photo at all. I understand it was taken with a camera and the original IS a photo ... but this, to me, is an image due to the processing that has now covered/disguised the photographic quality. It now has a more painterly feel.

That said ... there's no reason to not critique it as a photo as I can still see what the original looked like to some degree.

I like the pose. I like the composition also. The lighting appears to have been nice, almost a rembrandt feel to the lighting although some shadows give clue to a frontal flash I think.

Not sure if the processing caused it, but the image has a heavy orange cast. Perhaps it was intended.

The piece of wall looks a bit odd against his head to my eye. Perhaps if he was further along so we could see the wall on the right side (as we look at this) also it would look better.

That's about all I have :)

Thanks.

I will say more about the picture when I have a few more feedbacks, or if a while passes and I don't.

[Marko]

I agree w/MA 100% here on all points.
The only thing I wanted to add is that the position of the subject's head is looking slightly "off" to me. I think lowering his head a bit (so we see less neck and nostrils) would have helped here.

[Andrew]

Good portrait spacing on the sides and top. Nothing wasted or stressing the sides.

Lighting looks very good to me. Bottom, some left and maybe some top fill expose the full face well. A touch hot between the eyes in two places.

Background on the left blends OK but the harsh lines of the picture frame on the right detract. A bit too much DOF.

The saturation by light and/or processing has taken this way too far for me. You're getting into "graphics". If it was your camera, reset your menus. Almost looks like a Holga shot. If it was PP then back off the effects a lot and get rid of the background on the right. Then let's have another look.

[Iguanasan]

From a technical standpoint I have to agree pretty much with what everyone's said here. From a personal standpoint, as you asked for impressions as well, it makes me feel uncomfortable. The strong gaze makes me feel like this is not a person I want to get to know. Also, I feel very disconcerted by the strong contrast in the eyes but the very soft, almost foggy, feeling of the hair.

[mellowinman]

OK, well thanks, everybody! First of all, the first poster is correct, in that this is no longer a photograph, but a graphic file. I want to give you some background as to the nature of the shot.

I am in the music business, and I have to do a certain amount of publicity photos. I tend to pose a certain way; look a certain way; give the camera a certain look, etc. Lately, I have been sick of the same old stuff, and have been perusing my hard drive for forgotten photos that I didn't care for at the time I took them, and could significantly alter with some of my graphics programs.

I am getting old, and I am putting on weight. That's just something that happens. Now and again, I take a self-portrait, just to see how I'm doing. I'm very sensitive about the fat in my neck, and how I can show a double chin, or just look plain bad.

I pulled out this photo, from 3/24/09, when I would have been 45, and just took a shot of myself. I was using the Canon EOS Digital Rebel, which is about all I use anymore. All the old 35mm's with all the different lenses just sort of gather dust these days. I took it with the lens all the way wide, which caused a distortion like a fisheye lens, and exaggerated the size of my nose, which is not something I want to do, trust me. It was just me holding the camera at arm's length, and trying to get a good pose, and I really didn't feel I had succeeded. I hated the photo, and didn't look at it again for about two years.

Then, while I was looking for different shots to play with, there was just something about it that caught my eye, so I re-cropped, did a lens correction and played with some effects. I can't say exactly which effects, because I played with it for some time, undoing this and that, and just going by feel. I cheated a little, giving the left side of my lower face a tiny bit of liposuction, and removing a major eye bag, and added a little thickness to my hair, which was a bit flat that day, as my hair goes. I felt like the result was kind of a nineteenth century painting pose, like an arrogant, wealthy man might do, and I thought it had kind of a wildness, kind of like a Native American look, or something.
I made it my facebook profile picture, and I was just kind of surprised no one said anything about it, due to it being much different than the kind of photos I usually post.
I felt like I took a risk with it, and yeah, I kind of like putting myself "out there," so I posted it here, so some people who don't know me could just jump in and tell me about any impressions they had of it.

Here is the original, unaltered photo:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g123/mellowinman1/003-3.jpg

It's just me, standing in the bathroom, with the open door behind me. Probably about the last photo I would ever think to share, but life can be funny, you know?

[mellowinman]

For some perspective, here is a "normal" photo of me.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g123/mellowinman1/229a.jpg

[Mad Aussie]

You're a wild looking dude man :)

Cool to read a bit about the background and thinking behind your photo. It takes guts to put yourself out there I think. I know I rarely, if ever, do it myself.
A little weight? Bah ... don't sweat it. Live with it or go running. Either way, it's you and who you are.

You've got an animal between your legs.

[Iguanasan]

What a difference, the smilin' dude with the dog looks like a friendly fellow. :)

MA and I are on the same wavelength.... I can definitely stand to lose some weight - that's just about a universal thing for us North Americans - but as long as I am me I'm not gonna worry about it. ;)

[Lorey]

I think ya did a great job on the editing. I would get rid of the blown out spots between your eyes just above the eyebrows, on either side of your nose on the lower cheeks, one spot in the center of your upper lip, the right side of the mouth on the lower cheek, and maybe a little on the chin. Then print, matt, frame and hang an 8X10. Just my opinion.

[BzdegaPhotography]

I like the original much better, and I also agree with most of the comments.
Honestly the double chin you are worried about is much more pronounced in the altered photo and I like your skin and eyes in the original.
Much less intimidating.
You have great skin, and great hair and gorgeous brown eyes, focus on the beautiful things about you, as photographers that is mainly what we try to show is it not?

[SteveFrancis]

Very original !