This is a portrait taken to practice lighting and retouching. Taken while wearing a "One Piece" Marine shirt. In case, you don't know "One Piece" is the world's most popular comic book series. Anyway, this is the shot, tell me what you think and what I can improve on. Thanks!
I make no bones about it, the whole macho thing leaves me stone cold, but that said you have done a great job here. Your lighting is beautifully judged and the composition is BANG!, right between the eyes, with all the subtlety of an air-raid, so very well suited to the macho theme. Well done.
Thank you, Ian!
As for the macho thing, Since, generally in my free time (late at night after the kids are asleep), I don't have much choice in models (my wife complains it's too late and she looks too tired) I am left with taking self-portraits and I would rather look macho than not ;)
I don't have a problem with people liking the macho thing and certainly you are perfectly entitled to shoot macho guys, self portraits or regular portraits. This is about photography and your photography, as illustarted in this shot, is very good. Well done.
I don't do ballet or scuba diving or work in a hotel kitchen but would be happy to shoot people who do any of these things, including the iron pumping macho man.
I recognise that different genres, have different aesthetics and I was announcing that I may not know the aesthetics associated with the macho man genre. In the same way, shooting equine portraits is a specialist aesthetic skill, most would not know how to do, or to judge.