Gavyn

Lela Whiddon

New member
Please give me your thoughts of this. Client ordered it to hang in his room. I'll be happy to answer any questions about it. :)
 

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pjl

Senior Member
Hey, if the client liked it, it's gravy!
I'm not a portraiture guy; I think the facial lighting is good.
I like how you placed the different shots on the canvas.

How did you get the lad to pose like that?
Must've taken some work to get him to keep those somber looks.
Chuckling; 'studly pro skateboarder'...at what...age 10? 12?
 

Browncoat

Senior Member
This is a cool concept and is well put together. I'm not a portrait guy either, but the lighting looks good to me.

I think the cropping could be better. It wouldn't take much to re-size some of these a little bit so that fingers and ears aren't cut off. I also think that in making the large headshot (upper left) a bit smaller, you could have some separation between the two heads and get his ear in there.


Gavyn-2.jpg
 

Lela Whiddon

New member
Thank you both for your imput. He was 9 at the time. Gavyn is the son of a former employee of mine. He was very easy to photograph! You know most guys want to look "tough" lol. Gavyn and his parents all loved this piece. I agree about the larger head.
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
I agree it's a good shot. The only problem I have with it is the "tough" look in all of the pictures. They have all the same look just taken from different angles. If I had made these shots I would have had him to start talking about his skate board adventures. What was his latest trick learned. Get his attention away from the camera. Get him to reveal his personality in his facial expressions. Doing this would have made your collage really sparkle. Just my opinion and a different approach.
 

Lela Whiddon

New member
Thanks fotojack & thank you Joseph. I appreciate your post. There were many other shots that did not go on the composite. I had a good variety of expressions and poses. As I said before I know this child personally and had no trouble getting him to open up. However, for the composite his parents wanted an "urban, cool, and yes tough guy" look. I think he looks pretty cool for a 9yo! lol
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
I can't say I agree with the parents but if they wanted the "urban, cool, and tough guy look" then you did a very good job giving it to them. I for one don't agree with re-cropping. In a shot like this it's the look that's important and re-cropping would not change anything but would tend to diminish the effect by making the faces smaller. Sometimes it's OK to break the rules, cut off ears, fingers and even top of heads to achieve the effect you are looking for. When it comes down to it, all photos are subject to the ultimate final rule, "Do you like it", in this case the parents, yes, then it's a good one.
 

Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
"Sometimes it's OK to break the rules, cut off ears, fingers and even top of heads to achieve the effect you are looking for."

Couldn't agree more, Breaking the rules is where the creativity is, I've seen some technically perfect shots that lack creativity. I always claim creativity, no one can argue about that! lol.
 
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