Nice one - compelling eyes. Reminds me vaguely of a young Ringo

can u give us some info on this shot? who's he? where did u take the shot?

I take from that, that you dont like it then..... ha, ohwell I couldnt resist the moment, no camera, out of comfort zone, and at a place you like. It had to be done. So is this a shot of someone especially close, is it a relative, there is a look to this image that is 'classic'. Having said that I cant put a date, time, era, place, medium, or context to this picci. If you wanted a portrait like this one of you Dave, you should have just asked, ;-) ....

C

As a photograph that captures 'me', I like it - it's rare that I don't adopt the 'rabbit in the headlight' look, and I look relaxed in yours - but there's still no getting away from the fact that it's a photograph of me ;-)

As a site lurker I look often and post rarely.
I was very struck by your expression the moment the photo loaded.
It's very James Bond .. maybe in a really rare moment between being good and bad ;)
Really does make me curious what "he" (you) is looking at and what "he" (you) is thinking
Excellent photo (imho)

definitely better in b&w

Very fine portrait Dave...
The postprocessing gives it a kind of nostalgic look...
Could be a portrait made in the early sixties...
The model and the hairdo contibute to this feeling too.

Makes me think of a Matador.. - great portrait, very stylisé - Like the B&W too,
mucho :)

Hi David, I like your photograph and your black and white treatment. I am curious, though, of your thoughts toward subject and background separation. For example, the hair and shoulders blend in with the background. For me, it doesn't matter because I am focused on the subject's face and his expression. But do you and others fuss about the lighting and the lack of separation? Or was the lack of separation a deliberate artistic choice?

Kevin: in this instance, I'm not concerned about the lack of separation. Had it been a studio shot, I might have worried about the lighting, but it was actually shot at a wedding, in a gazebo, on an overcast day, at 200mm, so all I was worried about was the composition and getting the exposure right; i.e. not blowing out his shirt or the highlights on his forehead. In other words, I guess I'm with you on this one - I'm focussed on his face and expression. I think the key here is that if the portrait works, then things like background/foreground separation are way less important. Put another way, a lack of background/foreground separation can certainly make a bad portrait worse - it's just one more deficit to focus on - but when you get them right I really don't think it matters.

Thank you David for your response. :)

I think this is exceptionally well processed. I really like it.

Very cool. Reminds me of Al Pacino in The Godfather

Excellent portrait!

very sombre looks in the portrait

Wow, gorgeous shot, with a very soothing lighting effect and nice angle.
Just a splendid portrait, good job!

Ok now its in context, I had completely forgotten the wedding you were working on, now it all makes perfect sense. Its a good treatment of the shot using the Blue channel to bring out the skin like that. When I do weddings my treatment of individual shots just dont go to this degree of accuracy. I should learn by example.
CJ

I like this. Great light and very evenly exposed. dramatic black backdrop too...

Wonderful expression and a great portrait

fantastic!

Excellent portrait...and the B & W makes all the difference. What a comelling shot!

I love this one - it reminds me of the old studio portraits of movie stars in the 40's and 50's.

I love his expression. His eyes came out very well.

Very nice portrait. Makes me wonder what he is thinking about. Love the lighting.

Thanks everyone :-)

Yea, its a very powerful shot.
Well done.

Very compelling ...

I love this pic - it just jumped out at me.

I love the little nick you can see on the end of his nose and I wonder what/who he is looking at.

It's fantastic.