Comments welcome!

[jford]

I like the darkness and texture. However, I'm old-fashioned to the point of being staid and boring. In my opinion (and we all know about those), you should have been square to the camera - your head is tilted slightly to the viewer's right. I also don't think all that negative space (to the viewer's left) strengthens the image. But I do like that texture and richness. And I am very traditional in my tastes. So take my opinions with many, many grains of salt.
Thanks for sharing.

[fuent104]

I like the image, but low key + low contrast can be difficult to look at -it requires more effort on the part of the viewer. I'd like to see a version in which your face is brighter.

I also think it would be nice to have a catchlight added to your right eye, so we're not losing that half of you. These things are subjective opinions, though -very nice work!

[sumx4182]

I like the darkness and texture. However, I'm old-fashioned to the point of being staid and boring. In my opinion (and we all know about those), you should have been square to the camera - your head is tilted slightly to the viewer's right. I also don't think all that negative space (to the viewer's left) strengthens the image. But I do like that texture and richness. And I am very traditional in my tastes. So take my opinions with many, many grains of salt.
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for your critiques. Sometimes I'm so invested in the look and feel that I neglect cropping. I think there was a flaw in my setup, or my face is crooked, haha, but using my nose as a guide, I straightened and square cropped...still off-center using the rule of thirds, a look that I kinda like rather than a centered portrait. And I like the right align versus left because for some reason, I feel like I see left align all the time so right align is a bit different.

[sumx4182]

I like the image, but low key + low contrast can be difficult to look at -it requires more effort on the part of the viewer. I'd like to see a version in which your face is brighter.

I also think it would be nice to have a catchlight added to your right eye, so we're not losing that half of you. These things are subjective opinions, though -very nice work!

Thanks for the critique. I've never tried to do any formal portrait or self portrait. I literally have no lighting gear. No flash, no reflectors or lights of any kind. This photo was taken in my living room at 1 o'clock in the afternoon with 2 story windows! lol. The light comes from a table lamp that I set on a reclining chair and tilted to light one half of my face. With any more experience or equipment, I likely would have set up some sort of reflector for a bit of fill on the other side. The lamp wasn't bright enough to black out the background but it took it down a few stops. So the rest I had to do in post. That made it much harder to blend a very dark background to my face. The compromise was either leaving a slight background or blacking it out all the way but using that half of my face to help blend the transition. Maybe if I had better skills in Lightroom I could have got the best of both worlds. I'll work on it some more. For a jerry-rigged shot, I'm pleased.

[sumx4182]

I like the image, but low key + low contrast can be difficult to look at -it requires more effort on the part of the viewer. I'd like to see a version in which your face is brighter.

I also think it would be nice to have a catchlight added to your right eye, so we're not losing that half of you. These things are subjective opinions, though -very nice work!

Here's another attempt at PP from scratch to leave more light on the left side.

[Michael Piziak]

Comments welcome!

Very nice off center photo with nice use of tones !

[fuent104]

Here's another attempt at PP from scratch to leave more light on the left side.

The brighter tone on your face works better for me in this image. It's not quite as moody and dreary as the first one, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your point of view. I like it better, personally. I see more of a person and less of a mood, which I like.

[sumx4182]

The brighter tone on your face works better for me in this image. It's not quite as moody and dreary as the first one, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your point of view. I like it better, personally. I see more of a person and less of a mood, which I like.

Appreciate it!