Artist #3

[draymorton]

This is one of those instances wherein I thought the composition looked kind of cool, even though it breaks all kinds of compositional rules. But, again, I could be way off. Wondering what anyone thinks... about any of it.

[Ron Kruger]

I like that very much. The guy is a great model, shadows on his face really accentuate ruggedness and the background is so cool. You've got the a coal miner standing in front of modern art. I love the dicotomy of it. I also like the composition and how you cropped his face into the corner. I wish I had this guy to model for my fishing shots.

[Greg McCary]

I think the composition works for me. But the OOF right side is a bit much. If it were in focus I think you have something. What rules did you break?

[draymorton]

Thanks guys.

Ron - I don't know, but I'm not sure he's much of an outdoorsman. He's usually lost in multiple paintings-in-progress at one of his studios or chairing a University art department. I don't know that he ever sees the light of day!

Greg - the fake T-S effect was generated in CS3 (and it takes a loooong time to render, btw). So, that's a relatively easy fix.

I thought I was breaking the don't-cram-the-subject-into-the-corner and don't-chop-off-the-subject's-head rules. I'm never sure when it's okay to do what.

B/W version for laughs:

[Greg McCary]

Dray, All of my suggestions have been nit piks at best. You are very good at what you do.
He looks a lot like Robert Conrad is his younger days. If you can post us a link to his work in VF. I would certainly like to see his work.

[GB1]

The composition is kind of cool. It actually does work the rule of thirds. A bit of an unusual texture.

G

[Frog]

I agree with the above comments and also wish there were more dof.

There's rules?

[Old Timer]

I am become a real fan of your work but do have a small suggestion for you to try on this one. While I like you use of negative space on the right I feel it may be a bit much. Give an 8x10 crop a shot eliminating some of the space to the right side of the image. I think it brings the emphasis back more to the artist but still preserves the integrity of your original image composition. Just a suggestion not at all at criticism of your excellent work.

[draymorton]

Thanks, Greg - I appreciate that. (I was just basically saying that I don't recommend using Lens Blur in CS3 unless you have something else to do for, oh, 15 - 20 minutes. Not one of the more efficient filters... )

GB - does it really? (That's how little I know about composition... )

Frog -

OT - thanks! But please... criticize away. I'm here to learn from mistakes, especially the ones - and there are many - which I'm not aware I've made.

Dumb question, but when you say 8x10 crop, do you mean retaining a landscape orientation or cropping it into a portrait format?

[Old Timer]

OT - thanks! But please... criticize away. I'm here to learn from mistakes, especially the ones - and there are many - which I'm not aware I've made.

Dumb question, but when you say 8x10 crop, do you mean retaining a landscape orientation or cropping it into a portrait format?

By all means in landscape! I love your concept, I just felt that the extreme amount of room left to the right detracted somewhat from the extraordinary image of your main subject. One other note, I think color is the way to go with this image however to me the most compelling thing about your model is the piercing eyes, I'd like to see them emphasized a bit more int he color version.

[draymorton]

Okay... is this a little better, crop-wise? More? Less?

I tried to bring the eyes out just a little, hopefully without overdoing it. Too much? Not enough?

I also took out the fake T-S blur, but the DOF is still pretty shallow...

[LeeIs]

I love them both. I think the B&W is a bit stronger than the other one. But they are both very good. Nicely done.

[Don Schaeffer]

I really like this portrait. I think the original color version is just fine.

[draymorton]

Leels - yeah, the b/w is a little contrastier, especially in the face. I do like that aspect of it, except the blown-out highlights which are the side-effect. Not sure how to get rid of those now.

Don - thanks!

[opus]

I like the color one better, because the textures in the b/w compete too much for attention.

[draymorton]

Opus - yeah, he does blend into the background a lot more in the b/w... maybe too much. A totally different feel than the color one, in any case.

Thanks for the comment.