Low-End Theory

[draymorton]

[DrRoebuck]

This is great. Love the exposure and mood. My only critical thought is that he seems to be leaning forward unnaturally.

[Ctn]

I love it Draymorton. I'm fan of "jazz photograph's" and this is no exception.
Do have a few nitpicks tho as you are posting on the critique forum.

I assume you added the smoke effect by dodging and burning (?) which turned quite nice, however at his left cheek (for the viewer) the black background is lit up a bit, as if his left cheek is steaming . Also maybe a little heavy at the bass

Maybe also clone out the little line emerging from the bottom quarter of the bass.

Somehow i find myself giving your photo's alot of critique, but that is only due to the fact i like them alot and inspect them very closely. So, sorry about that..

[llewpics]

I quite like the BW treatment, the subject and processing. I am not sure about the balance in the photo, as almost all of the interest is on the right side ....with much negative space on the left side. Additionally, his face is half covered by the bass neck - which I find somewhat distracting. On the other side, the face does seem to have that mysterious look to it - which I definitely like to see. A slightly different pose, and this one would be great (for me anyway). Knowing that you usually put up one of several shots you have of the same subject ...I am sure you have one like it already :-)

[Don Schaeffer]

Looks classic. I've seen portraits like this getting ooh and ahhs in galleries. Good for you. Real success only depends on the name of the performer.

[armando_m]

Good for an album cover !

slight gray emerging from his head is intentional? or a stage light ? looks strange

I like the empty space and the odd position

[draymorton]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

Don - thanks! His is a big name. Mine, on the other hand...

llewpics - thanks for chiming in here. Point well-taken about the comp. He and the bass could probably fill up the frame a little more. As for his face being hidden the instrument... that might be a faux-pas. I know I can't stand seeing shots of performers with the mics in their faces. And I do have other frames wherein his face is in full view, but none had quite as much charm.

ctn - no need to be! I'm grateful that you take the time. Critique away. That's why most of us post here. The line - good catch, easy fix. The smoke effect was something I was thinking about right after I posted this, so I'm glad you mentioned it. It was achieved not by lightening some areas but by darkening others. I redid the image a little to minimize the effect in the places you mentioned.

On a similar note... I posted this somewhere else and there was serious banding from the light areas into the dark ones. What causes this phenomenon and what is the best way to get rid of it?

DrR - Thanks for the comment. Really glad to see you around. The frame could easily be rotated to the right to fix that forward-lean.

[draymorton]

Good for an album cover !

slight gray emerging from his head is intentional? or a stage light ? looks strange

I like the empty space and the odd position

Thanks Armando! It was a light coming from somewhere, but maybe I should darken it to match the rest of the bg. I was wondering about that.

[Neous]

made me smile
love the critiques you're getting

[GB1]

Hmm. It does have that classical look Dray, but it's also a tease. I want to see more of his face here, and there seems to be slightly too much negative space. It may also be a tad dark in the detail areas. I guess all this is why it's a tease

G

[wildenc]

I could just see this on the cover of a CD.
I like it but agree that there may be a little bit too much negative space