HARLAN COBEN

Critiques [Translate]

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• janneman (984)
• [2007-07-23 5:30]

Goei belichting : iemand met zoveel vlees aan het hoofd heeft meer kans, bij mij, om te spiegelen. :-)
Door je zwarte frame en zijn donkere kledij is het bijna een B/W foto maar, nét toch niet.

De man zelf ken ik niet, maar hij heeft er wel guitige ogen in staan !

Groetjes

Jan

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• shelbeesmom (47822)
• [2007-07-23 7:40]

Wonderfully natural shot here Magda! Wonderful tones, excellent detail and lighting! He should be proud of this!
B-)
Linda
XOXOXO

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• Janone (0)
• [2007-07-23 8:37]

Er kon zo een bordje op zijn borst met 'This is Him'.
Met daaronder 'Best Author'. Haha
Perfect Portrait of that famous writer. Good work, Magda.
Jan

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• Beger (19892)
• [2007-07-23 8:45]

Hi Magda,
Your contact with this man seemed very cordial, indeed! Natural pose and colors. Sharpened details. Very well done! Annie

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• paul_indigo (6786)
• [2007-07-23 10:32]

Very natural portrait. His eyes are so intense. He's a big guy and you captured this.

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• Silke (23588)
• [2007-07-23 15:06]

Great light in those intense eyes!
TFS
silke

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• Cat_Mouse (3754)
• [2007-07-24 7:28]

Cracking portrait Dear friend,

lot of detail and color. Nice work for both you, and your new camera!

Malik & Mary.

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• HeadlessGuy (2149)
• [2007-07-24 18:06]
• [14]

Hi Magda,

I'm not bashing you or anything but I don't quite understand what it is about this photo that other members are praising.

Please look past my ignorance if I’m totally off here and let me know why I’m wrong if you don’t mind. For that matter, any other members that can explain to me why I’m wrong are more than welcome.

The detail is super sharp; we can see the texture of his shirt. But from the nose up it seems to get a little bit blurred.

The lighting is what it is, flash – more or less a direct hit. It’s well controlled in the sense that there are no blown highlights or flattened shadows and very few shadows in his face. Just the two on the sides of his chin and one below, which in my opinion are not too flattering. I wonder how you avoided getting any shadows on the background and still light it up?

For the pose, I don’t see any natural thing about it. It might be his natural pose to lean his head backwards and to the side but for a portrait I think it could have been better. It doesn’t look very relaxed. Holding the chin high gives an impression of his size but also seems like an attempt to avoid any shadows below it.
Same goes for the expression. To me it looks like he wants to get the shoot over with and is trying to force a smile. It doesn’t show any significant connection between the subject and the photographer.

In my honest opinion this looks more like a passport photo form the photo kiosk than a portrait by an accomplished photographer. I don’t see who is behind the face in this portrait, which in my opinion a portrait should try to portray.

Looking at your portfolio here on TL and your photos on your web site, blog and those of your photos I’ve seen on other sites, I’d expect a better result even under difficult conditions. I realize you call it a ‘free’ portrait but I’m not sure how to interpret that.

Again, my observations might be totally off in which case I’d appreciate to know why.

Cheers,
Jens

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• atomas59 (2316)
• [2009-04-19 15:56]

Couldn't agree more with Headless.
How hard is it to give a "fair critique" instead of high praising, on a photo, which is no more then ordinary. Not that it diminish, the rest of work done by this member...but far from being he's best work.