Man 1

Alex, I love the gleam in the man's eyes and the clear definition of his features. I wonder what this shot would be like without the buzy background?

All in all, great work....Bert

Hi Bert -- Thanks your your comments! It's ironic that you note the gleam in the subject's eyes, as he is blind.

For me the point of an environmental portrait is to give a sense of context to the sitter. Even though the background is busy, I've attempted to balance the elements by working in-close with a short lens and wide aperture. The background falls naturally darker because the subject was sitting in the (window) light source. The wide aperture blurs the background, and the sharpness of the subject hopefully draws the eye forward. This is easily not the most elegant execution of this technique by far, but I consider it a modest success, as the out-of focus background provides a sort of abstract geometric counterpoint to the foreground figure which I like.

thanks again!

A.