"Man and His World" - for criticism

[ananda]

Shot in a misty morning in a sleepy village called Mukutmanipur in West Bengal, India. This part of Bengal is known for its red laterite soil and ragged landscapes.

Critiques invited

[JAS_Photo]

I like the way you can see bands of colors with each element. Sky, hills, trees, shore, river, shore, grass. The boat is quite cool as well. To me the least interesting element is the man. I would have liked him facing us or perhaps doing something we can identify. As it is we don't know exactly what he is doing and his overall body posture is not that interesting. Because of the color of his shorts our eye keeps going over there only to find he is still doing nothing interesting. Other than that it is a fabulous landscape.

[Mad Aussie]

Interesting scene ... I like the boat. I agree with Raiven that having the man doing something we can recognise would have made this photo much stronger. Perhaps getting into or out of the boat or something like that.

I can also see what looks like a can or some other peice of rubbish near the boat so I would clone that out.

I think some adjustment to the levels/curves to lighten the darker areas a little and also put some contrast into the haze at the background might have help this further also.

I like the composition of placing the boat off to the side and how low down you have taken the shot. It seems to create the necessity for us to look around the photo.

[AntZ]

I agree that the main subject as defined by the title seems to be scratching himself or something and is not particularly interesting. The location however has so much promise.

[Bambi]

I agree with everyone else. Love the layers, colours and the boat. the man I don't mind so much and I think having a person adds a bit of interest. I just wish he was doing something (other then appearing to scratch himself).

[Marko]

Although I really like the overall composition here, I'm there too. IMO the man should be doing something interesting, or we should be able to read an expression on his face. In this case the photo would have been stronger without him, he is a distraction and no joke, he does look like he's scratching himself. Most of the time shots of the backs of people don't work imo. Hope that helps - Marko

[tirediron]

Aside from the artistic comments, I'd suggest doing some very subtle curves adjustments to clear up the haze a little bit.

[Jake_And123]

Great atmosphere! I love the progressive fogginess as it goes out into the distance. I would've panned a bit to the right to reframe it slightly. Or if you wanted to keep the boat in the shot, then I would've moved myself to the right a bit. But that's a personal call of course!

Good shot!

[ananda]

thanks to everyone for the very valuable feedback. Indeed, the posture of the man is not interesting.....will try to do better next time

[tirediron]

thanks to everyone for the very valuable feedback. Indeed, the posture of the man is not interesting.....will try to do better next time

There's also another option which I don't believe has been mentioned, and would be more in keeping with your title: Zoom out. Way, way out so that the man was much less prominent in the image, thus showing the viewer more of his world.