Back For The Fall Semesterby
lshlesComment by BeeGee: Hi, this is Bruno aka member beegee, writing to you on behalf of the critique club.
I'll be encouraging and full of suggestions, but VERY blunt about what works and what doesn't work FOR ME on your submission:
The background is TOO blown out - or, as it seems from the too sharp edged foreground, CUT out and left or made bright white - try a softer white or a light gray or even a dark gray or black instead, see how that looks.
Exposure on his face is nice, but could be better if you'd used a little bit of flash (even built in) to, beside helping colors and contrast, make his eyes shine, literally, by adding a highlight (reflected, indirect or tuned down direct, i.e. on camera flash) where his pupils are.
Pose, subject, "styling", i.e. the red sweater, perspective and even the crop are good, but the cut out background, the left in part of the tree and the fact that there's a white background, don't help the picture.
Check out Richard Avedon's work for the best portraiture on white backgrounds that I've EVER seen - just "google image" him.
Please let me know if this kind of critique helps you, personally. It's my style, I like it but I know that that doesn't mean a thing if people can't appreciate what I'm trying to put across.
I was a student once, too and teacher don't always get you now, do they? ;-)
All the best for current and future challenges.
Bruno
Photographer found comment helpful.
