Be Brutal.

[Onyx]

rummaging around in some lost photos i found this one. i kinda like it but i want everyones opinion on exposure, lighting, composition the pose and anything else you can think of. taken with sony p10 without flash automatic everything.

 

['Daniel']

I'd remove the angle on his right chest area, it isn't flattering. It will give him a slimmer appearance.

I don't like the pose. You can't see his face, you can see up his nose. It's not a particularly attractive pose I don't think. it also seems unnatural. Your face suually follows the direction in which you are looking especially when you are free to look. It seems odd to have his face pointing on way and his eyes the other when his head is in that position.

 

[gfoz]

No matter where I walk in the room, his nose is following me!

 

[photoromopr]

it depends if its a formal portrait or just a person shot. if its a person shot, then its nice . i like white negative space when its used well (like this one). the lighting is kind of flat, (for me) but thats just because when i shoot i like having crazy dramatic shadows. and just overall, its nice...looks like a thoughtful guy

 

[thebeginning]

there are a couple of things that come to mind when i view this image. for one, like others have said, it is quite flat. there is a nice black (his hair) and a nice white (the background) but the grays are quite drab, and this is partly because of the lighting. It looks like it was supposed to be even, but got a little messed up (especially noticeable on his face where there is slightly uneven lighting and some strange shadows). 'high key' or 'hot white' images don't USUALLY work in black and white, unless there is some incredibly fascinating subject matter in the photo. I might be a little biased though, because I don't really like any bright white style portraits because they are so cliche and usually pretty boring.

For this shot, I would recommend color, since the image's tonality on a whole is quite drab. The pose is not very flattering, both the body and the head (others before me explained why). the exposure seems good, just watch your contrast. One thing I really like is soft lighting (that is relative for each person though). Something that might help an image like this from being 'shadowy' like in his face and shirt is to use shade/diffusers in between the subject and the lighting sources. one common method is to have someone hold a large but thin white sheet in front of the subject, diffusing the light before it hits the subject. Just a thought. Keep in mind that nothing is wrong with shadows. For instance, in 'Daniel's' avatar, that picture has some harsh shadows, but it still works out nicely because the shadows have a slightly softened edge, which usually means it was shot through a diffuser or bounced from a reflector. light straigt on from a flash or continuous lighting source gives off harsh, 'sharp' shadows, which are usually quite distracting.