Viking 'Huskarl' (Warrior)

Is this photo really as bad as the (single) rating suggests? Please

rate and/or comment.

 

I agree that the helmet could do with a polish, but I thought the

image at least had a certain 'in-your-face' (no pun intended) impact.

This is a good photograph that deserves recognition. Best wishes Allan

The only critism I would have is that it would have had more drama if you could see the eyes otherwise good image

I'm going to be brutally honest and say that if this was meant to be 'in your face' then you could do with a different model under the mask. The eyes being the window to the soul and all...This guy looks really nice, not the effect that I think you were going after. It almost looks like he's smiling under that helmet of his.

 

Overall the photo quality is excellent, sharpness, saturation, etc.

 

I think you have misread the ratings here on photonet. People here are realtively undereducated about the history of photography, which really comes in to play when you look at the originality ratings. Otherwise aesthetics is mostly just a personal thing. Aesthetically I think the sharpness really stands out as do the colors. But I must agree with the above posting that the eyes are too soft and therefor this loses a lot of its edge and the warrior that he should be is just not as imposing.

But I must say the originality rating is bloated, I would give this a two mainly because I've seen a lot of this sort of thing. That's not bad, not many of my shots are original, and that's ok. I still try and some of my better shots I still haven't uploaded as I am sure is the case with many others. However you should probably see that the aesthetics on this are not bad, in fact quite decent and the originality I think is too high. Still, its a good shot, just next time tell that silly warrior to look pissed or something.

People portraits are meant to show a mood, or action. This is basically a picture of a helmet, especially considering that the eyes are not well defined. If the eyes had more detail and not into the shadows, the picture would greatly improve, even more if you made the eyes the subject; like in this new composition. That's MHO.

I agree with the comments on the eyes ... but, I also keep being drawn to the bright spot of the clasp (or whatever it is) in the lower left corner of the photo. That seems to also detract from the intensity of the "warrior" element, even though compositionally it would seem to be a good addition. Regarding the ratings in the critiques, repeatedly I am struck with the inadequacy of the two elements, aesthetics and originality... those do not seem to take into account the technical merit of the image, composition, use of light, etc. The ratings also are clearly not consistent and, I suspect, reflect a huge range in the photographic backgrounds, skill and expertise of those who are rating.