Amazing!by
eschelarComment by Louis: In response to your
request for comment: Compositionally, this is a good photograph, with interesting framing created by the book leaves around the face. The hairline and face sort of point down into the V-shape of the book, giving an overall satisfying effect. The image in this respect is well-balanced.
I think there's too much red or magenta in the image. I understand from your comments that you adjusted for that, but there is still too much red; you could have
really adjusted for that, but it seems you gave up before the job was complete. I don't know what hair colour is natural here, but the red/magenta also appears as highlights in the hair. For someone who really enjoys image clarity, I'm surprised at finding this image too clear for my taste. The shadows in this image make the figure harsh, almost sinister, especially considering the dark areas below the eyes, and the disembodied effect the shadowy background gives to the head. The book is sort of floating above the shadows at the extreme bottom of the image too; sometimes an effect like this is interesting and dreamy, but here, for me, it detracts. In essence, the image overall is unappealing, and without benefit of commentary, the message is ambiguous.
About the challenge: personally, my view is that it's DNMC. I take it from your comments that the notion you are trying to convey is really very important to you. If I don't have access to the comments, I don't understand that from this image. A boy model would have been more appropriate for this, in my opinion. More context in the background, perhaps more focus on a child's big amazed eyes with just a hint of the book, and b/w or some other duotone would have really made this. Also, I can tell this is a dictionary, which can't possibly be that amazing. You could have borrowed an old book from the library, or gone to a second-hand book store to look for a really colourful cover, or something like that. You seem to have gone to some trouble to take this shot, so a little more might have helped.
This is all of course just the opinion of someone who looks at a lot of pictures, so what worth it has must be taken with a grain of salt. :) I hope it helps; thanks for the chance to comment!
Photographer found comment helpful.
