Homesickby
miminComment by klstover: Critique Club Comment:
I liked this a lot during voting. The only thing that kept me from giving it a ten was the cord, which, as mentioned, is not a good element to have. But you probably couldn't control that much.
I thought it met the challenge well. It didn't have so much of a visual representation of distance, but the challenge also said that a figurative representation would be okay. Unfortunately a lot of voters who might have quickly gone through the entries may have been looking more for the visual. So that may have hurt your score some.
Colors are good and lighting is good. It could have used a bit of sharpening I think. I like the composition. I thought that it was simple and nice, and communicated your idea effectively.
Your choice of subject is what really, in my opinion, made this picture strong. As a commenter said, it really is heartbreaking. Not only that he is seeming to look for something that is not there, but also that he doesn't seem to be himself (with the matted fur I mean). Also the head down just adds to the emotion of the shot.
Overall this is very great, especially for your first challenge! Keep in mind that if you do go the more figurative route for challenges, the voters as a whole may not reward that. However, it can be lots of fun to be "out of the box" and keep pushing the envelope. I hope you enter lots of challenges; I'd love to see more from you in the future!