portraits OK ?

Thanks :)

Aesthetics:

 

1) Some viewers may think the contrast is a bit harsh. I don't think so, but perhaps the whole picture could go a bit darker, so the skin would be a little more "gentle". But I like very much this dark shadow around the orbit of his front eye: it emphasizes on the eye as well as the general shape of the face.

 

2) What I don't like is the bottom right of the frame where the shape of the black T-shirt "eats" his beard. I think the beard was more interesting.

 

3) Another thing you did very well here is to highlight the shape of his nose - thanks the the harsh contrast between the nose and the cheek at the back. It is up to each viewer to see whether highlighting the nose was a good or a bad thing.

 

Cleverness: In my view, his nose is an important aspect of his face, but the eyes are always important too - in any portrait, I'd say. His eyes here are quite impressive, very "fixed", very deep into something - we just don't know what. Do we need to know ? I believe so. Not necessarily in fact, but it's more interesting if we can figure what he does or thinks or who he really is. I miss that here. It's a bit as if we'd have a strong and well executed portrait that misses half of the person's soul, so to speak... Now just imagine exactly the same picture, but with his eyes deeply turned to the camera and looking straight at us...? I think that could have been a VERY good portrait. It's still pretty good, but...:-) Cheers.

Thanks a lot Marc . I'm glad you show interest in this photo and leaving such a deep comment . Appreciated

Agreed with Marc. However I would not change much having said that. Darken the neck a bit and lighten the beard in the dark neck a bit. In the end this is a fantastic portrait.

Lovely setailed portrait. Nice B/W presentation. Like the light effect and the exposure. Perfect.

Thank you Marko and Kaushik , Wish you a lovely day :)

Intense, effective photo. Rather than launching into a technical analysis, which has been done by better folks than I, I'd like to mention how unique this portrait is in its intensity and directness, especially given that this is not a direct gaze that you've captured. This, like your portraits, has a little extra something that elevates them from mere snapshots.

Hi Jeff . Thank you for your kind comment