Greetings from the Critique Club :)
Composition:
The cropping is a bit tight I imagine for most people, personally I do not have an issue with cropping it top or sides of heads but it needs to look like it was deliberate rather than a framing error when taking the shot. I think the angle may have cost you some votes too here, people generally do not like looking up other peoples noses in photos so it's almost a gut reaction low vote in many cases I would think.
Technicals:
I am not certain of the conditions you were in and whether the blown shirt happened during the conversion or is evident in the original, but his face looks quite contrasty with a reasonable amount of shadows for definition and contours.
Post-Processing:
Again I am not sure whether the shirt was salvagable from the original or not, it definitely would have cost you points on here though I feel, I do like the amount of detail you pulled off in the face and hair though.
My Opinion:
The subject is probably not something one would expect to score high at DPC and I think the aggression shown in the face also likely helped lower your score, it may have faired a lot better in a street shot type challenge though. I would have liked to see some reference or story as to why he was angry I guess, because as it is it's a guy with a contorted face and very little else, would it hold my attention long enough to consider my vote? No most likely not, although that's just as likely a failing with me than your image.
Hope this was of some use, should you wish to discuss any part of the critique further please feel free to PM me.
Good luck in future challenges!
Mark |