Hot Lights

Hey Roger, Since you are asking for some explanations I hope you don't mind my point of view.

For the contest: you submitted a shot based on the contest requirements (or so we hope), well done, nuff said there.

As a photograph: I gave this a 3 star rating because I do think this is a solid shot, it does need work, however, I won't give it a 2 because this photo has more good than bad going on (for lack of a better description). This photograph for me, is strong with story, so that easily pushes it to a solid piece. It appears more than a model shot, which many times comes off pretty, but also pretty boring. I could even give this a 4 star if, and this is just for me, there was a touch of light to the back of his head, more detail in the smoke, and the bottom right area is just too lost in black, maybe some more subtle detail there could help.

In reference to what George Popescu mentioned. Concept, smoke, model all good. I think the background is a good choice, makes this less about a model shoot and gives me an environment to build a story with, many model shots lack story. If anything maybe reduce the clarity on the background a tad to further emphasize the model. I do agree with George that an extra light for the back of his head would be a big plus. As for eyes, I don't agree with George, in this situation I think it is adding to the story, there's a particular set of emotions happening with that look, I won't go into an explanation of the expressed emotion here, but for me this works as an advantage to help the mood/ drama. Plus I like that touch of light on his eyelid. Had he been look straight ahead or even straight ahead, the photo could certainly still work, but I don't think George's statement of "should look straight" should be taken in every situation.

Cheers ~