First Veteran's Portrait of the Year

[tirediron]

wow he looks so proud.. and we are proud of him.. and he must be very happy with this photo

Thank-you!

Good shot.

As far as critique goes, I think the figure of his uniform is lost in the dark background, and some separation would add a great level of depth to this portrait. As well, the lack of noticeable catch-lights in his eyes takes away a lot of potential connection between me as the viewer and the subject of the portrait. A stronger catch-light would also give his eyes some life, whereas currently I feel that the eyes lack "life". I see that there are very small ones in his eyes, but to me they look like they were added in post and have a very fake look to them.

Thanks Dan; points noted! I agree on the catch-lights; I may touch them up in post. This was shot in a basement in very tight conditions, so lighting placement was not optimal. As far as the background separation, it's a fair point and one that's been raised before on this series. The look is deliberate as my goal is to highlight the face and decorations, but to have the body sort of "appear" out of the background. Not to everyone's taste I grant you.