another video store clerk

My doubts are centered around DOF here. Did I get it right?

I think you judged the DOF nicely. There is enough blur to let me know what is in the background without distracting attention from the portraitee.

 

However there is nothing to show he is the clerk. That detracts from the image as an environmental portrait. How do I know it's the clerk except for the title? If it is special that he is the clerk, I would like to see why.

Richard: I think that your response is somewhat self-conflicting. Please let me explain why:

 

If you think that the photo fails to establish the fact that the subject is a video store clerk, then that is a function of the DOF (of course within the parameters of this frame only. No doubt, there is the possibility that other photos taken by other phtographers would be able to establish that fact better than I did) - which means the DOF should have been 'deeper', and reveal more of the background - the DVD cases on the shelves for example. The 'background blur thing' is desired to the degree that it is functional. Here more DOF, I think, would not have been a distraction, but a requirement.

 

In a series of three photos, however, there might be a little more that shows that the subject is an employee in a video store. The following link should take you there, should you be interested.

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=281339

Your depth of field is fine. But depth of field doesn't make or break a picture when composition is lacking. There is nothing that concretely says this person is a clerk. He could easily be a customer - there is nothing to put it in contect...no counter, no 'uniform' (or badge), etc. The main thing *you* have to ask is yourself whether you are getting across what you wanted to. So - what are you trying to get across? If you're trying to show that this person is a clerk, then it doesn't work. But if you're simply looking for a shot of a person in a video store, it works. I do think you should have aimed for more of the person than the wall in any case. Unless the videos are equally important (and I don't see how that would be the case), crop the top shelf off. Keep up the good work!

I think you have answered you own question by your composition.

 

If you the background to establish that this was a c;erl in a video store, then you need more DOF. If you just want a good informal portrait of the gentleman, then the the DOF is correct, but you need to crop the background out - crop just above the top of his head. You would then have a good informal portrait with good skin tone and sharp focus.