On 5/29/05, Boris Liberman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi! > > http://webaperture.com/gallery/photos/49886 > > Two questions: > > 1. I've been doing some editing here... Do you think it wasn't overdone? > 2. Is it a worthy street portrait? How can I improve? > > As usual, be brutal but/and honest... >
Once I saw this, I decided to comment without looking at the other replies, but I'm guessing that others may feel the same way. It seems to me that his face is way blown out. There simply isn't enough detail in his face - it just seems all wrong. I feel like I should be seeing way more wrinkles and age lines that are apparent right now. That white hat is overblown as well. For a "traditional portrait", it doesn't seem sharp enough for me. The eyes should be razor sharp, and they aren't. The mouth and moustache certainly aren't sharp, but that would be fine if the eyes were. Strangely, his ears and the back of his neck seem as sharp as his face, and they shouldn't be, which makes me wonder is maybe the plane of focus isn't a bit farther back than it should be. This has the potential to be a wonderful photo. I really like the relaxed feeling, the unaffected smile - the moment was definitely caught, that's for sure. As is, it's acceptable, but the technical difficulties aren't quite overcome by the emotional impact, at least not for me. I wonder if you overdid it with the post processing? I'd be interested to see it unaltered. Or is it not viewable in it's original format, and that's why you had to process it so much? cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
