I SHOT MYSELF!!! ON PURPOSE!!

[jwilly1]

and lived to tell about it! In fact here's the picture. And no I didn't mess up the camera. I would love to hear some constructive criticism. I think...

 

[tirediron]

Nicely done! Some will say it needs a hair/rim/background light, but I rather like the look. My only [VERY] minor niggle is that I think your key needed to be just a bit lower and pulled a little closer to the camera. That would have eliminated that dark shadow which appears to protrude from your upper lip.

 

[Designer]

It looks as if you framed to allow room for your watermark, as in; for advertising purposes. I think if you are just trying to make a well-balanced portrait, you might as well frame in portrait format.

JMHO

 

[Braineack]

somehow the lighting looks very flat across a curved surface, like you went in and did some tomfoolery with the highlights and mids?

just looking at the catchlights, I'd expect to see some sort of specular highlight on your forehead, yet it's missing. that makes it look unnatural to me.

looks like the missed the focus slighty, where the cross on your chain is the sharpest thing in the frame.

Otherwise I like the lighting pattern itself.

 

[jwilly1]

I did do some "magic" to get rid of the slightly shiny highlight. The portrait was composed to highlight the watermark actually, so it appears that I worked that in nicely. I see what is being said about the key and focus also. This is the first time I've tried to shoot my own portrait. The focus is somewhat difficult to pull off exactly on the money. Thanks so much as always guys! Invaluable!

 

[sashbar]

Looks like you shot yourself in the left eye.