Just a portrait ...

[Expiredyoghurt]

1. in what area is critique to be sought?

Hi guys, would like a little critique/advice on the composition.... i.e. the framing .. .i'm not quite sure if the slanted framing works here ... (i think it works ... but well, i wanna know what others think ...)

would also like any advice on post-processing ... possibly burn the corners? ... i'm not quite sure if it'll work her though ...

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?

The guy in the portrait is one of the Hall Pageant winners ... this is one of the shots that i took during his photo shoot by the hall photogs ...

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)

taken outdoors, at night (would have preferred day time .. but timetables do not allow), single flash + flip-it

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture

I think it works mainly cos of the selective focus on the model's face and the rest of the photo OOF ... but i'm not quite sure if it'll look better if the model was looking at the camera or if it was taken in portrait orientation ...

kinda feel the selective focus + slant are a little 'gimmicky' ...

as for the focus spot not being tack sharp ... my apologies ... finger focus is kinda difficult =/


Thanks everyone =)

 

[night86mare]

hey bro

hope all's going well.. still haven't thanked you for the help rendered a while ago.

in any case, was this shot using a lensbaby?

you mentioned that you do not think the slant works - picture the photograph without a slant - there is a reason why most portraits usually come out upright. doing things out of the ordinary needs clear direction in order to work (or very lucky output when fooling around). personally here i think the slant doesn't add to the picture, so the picture is better off without it.

same for the selective focus. i would prefer a straightforward 50mm shot rather than the use of LB here, if it was used. to me, the lighting is alright, but the expression - not sure what you intend to convey here for the subject.

 

[Expiredyoghurt]

hey night86mare, love your shots from all over the world man .. heh heh ... well, this was more in-between the shoots ... cos i'm not the photog covering this ... yeah, it was with a LB ... thats why finger focus ...

the slant was well, it avoid the other people, who were holding reflectors etc etc .. and objective? ... hmm .. i wonder ... probably more like candids to throw in with the actual shots ...

I guess you're right about pictures needing a clear direction ... hmmm.... thanks ... I guess the shoot (for me) was more of a just for fun ... playing around with my LB ...