Big Daddy Rat

Would love some feedback on this photo. Thanks

Very nice shot, Paul.  As I contemplate this interesting image, somehow I keep wishing would were this a full frontal shot..., but I know all too well how the instant rules in such cases and we get what we get out of it.  The reason for the latter comment is simply that, IMHO, I imagine that a full frontal shot would have given more poise to the interesting geometric planes in the background.  The other comment, if you don't mind, is that a simpler frame would have done more fittingly -- again my subjective taste, of course.  You have many lovely photos in your portfolio, and I will have to come back and explore more. Best, -h.

Thanks Hamid for your suggestions. I guess, "you had to be there". Rat was the owner of this delapidated hotel in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He liked to talk and was friendly enough, but he didn't seem comfortable looking at the camera when I was photographing him. I have some of him looking at the camera, but to me, this represents more of what was really going on between us. I know having an individual looking out of the frame is not supposed to be done, but things like that don't worry me too much. Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

I like this shot a lot. It's one of those instants when I think the essence of the subject is captured and revealed. That moment can't be planned, just awaited and if you're lucky, you catch the rat by the tail (A bad pun, I know :-)). Here his look and a tenseness in his body language (the shoulders) express a certain wariness perhaps sparked by you as an outsider with a camera.

Thanks Jack. I think you nailed Rat. He liked to be video taped talking about his famous hotel (The Riverside in Clarksdale, Miss). But he definately was a little more tense when I started pointing my Nikon 17-35mm zoom. It's a big piece of glass.