The Dan Winters Type look with digital

[thoughtcryme]

Really? I think that photo is absolutely awful. The second it loaded on his page, I was like, whoaaa, worst shot I've ever seen of President Obama. THe first thing I noticed was the barely attached ear on the side of his head. The a terrible angle,and it makes his ear look huge. And the wide angle distortion makes his nose look giant as well. It looks like he is using a 24/1.4 on a FF body or something. His lips are sharper than his eyes, and the skin tone is washed out an pale. Not a fan of the beauty dish glow on his forehead either. But whatever, he gets tons of work, so people must like it.

That's his distinct style you're talking about.
By what you've said, I have a sneaking suspicion that you're a technical photographer, not an artistic photographer?
Only reason I say this is because the things you listed that you dislike are mostly rules of thumb that he has broken to achieve his signature look.
And only a technical photographer would have a problem with that.

The reason the skin tone is drab is because he wants it that way.
I read an article about him on the link above and it mentioned that he chooses to mute the colors.
Personally I think his shots are amazing.
Pretty much everything about them is great.
The thing I like most about them is that they're NOT technically correct.
Technically correct photos are a dime a dozen.
Which is boring IMO.