Critique the Community

Portraits/Expressions

With Peter Hurley
Join Fstoppers' Portrait Photography Competition
  • Submission Deadline: Wed, 29 Nov 23 17:00:00 +0000

    This contest has ended.

  • Voting is closed.

  • Congratulations to the winners!

    View Results

26
Votes
Community Avg
1.96 - "Needs Work" 

Casual photo shoot with Darren in Dundee, Scotland

Log in or register to post comments
1 Comment

This seems like a good example of how to assess the difference between a 2 (needs work) and a 3 (solid) score.

The most obvious thing that jumps out at me in this picture is the totally flat gray values of his skin, and low contrast overall. If it weren't for his hair and beard, he'd be totally camouflaged by the wall. My first reaction would be to suggest putting some light and shadow (contrast) on the subject's face, brighten the eyes... in other words, it needs some work. First impressions can sometimes be flawed though.

The lighting and contrast are so flat that I suspect the photographer could only have achieved this look by design. Just because an image is processed differently than how I would have done it, does not mean it's a bad photo or needs work. All of which is to say that I think the image shows planning and intention... worthy of a solid (3) score.