Response to Self Portrait 3 (Response #97)

Uploaded 550 Days Ago by bslomovic - 14 comments

Photo © bslomovic (Brant Slomovic) - www.brantslomovic.com
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User Comments

Ana said 550 days ago:

i wish I could see a bit more of your hand, but this is nice. sincere.

pursang said 550 days ago:

A very expressive portrait with lighting and exposure that makes it pop. Seems you used an umbrella for the frontal portion and allowed natural light on the back. My only suggestion is to have had your hand higher to add drama to the image. Well done and I prefer BW, but believe this is best presented in color.

mtmartini said 550 days ago:

Brant, I really want to know what is the cause of this expression, it looks so pained that it is almost hard to bear.

photografica said 550 days ago:

Apart that is seems to be a bit soft right in the middle of the face, I really like this. I wish the eyes were looking a little higher though as well.

bslomovic said 550 days ago:

Ana > Thanks for the kind words. As for the hand, there were other images from the series that had more of my hand in the frame, but this had the best combination of the look I was going for and the presence of said extremity ;-) And to be honest, I found that in the others the hand was a bit distracting.

Thanks Mark to you as well. No umbrella, the lighting on the face was a bit of post processing work to make up for a total lack of studio gear. I'm glad the color works for you here, its what I preferred as well.

Tracy > wow, this was not the reaction I was going for at all. I have been told in the past that I tend to scowl(I think Kyla used to raz me on a pretty regular basis saying that I frown) when concentrating, may be I was thinking to hard about this shot ;-). I was really just going for something calm and thoughtful. Maybe its the black or the damn hand that gives the impression of pain?

CraigMartin said 550 days ago:

Very nice shot, and high marks for it. I like the depth of feeling it tends to convey. My only quibble is that I think it might have been even more powerful if the hand had not been cropped out. The hand on the chest is part of the expression, but it is dismembered.

CraigMartin said 550 days ago:

Wow, I didn't even recognize you in this shot! Very different look from the featured one earlier. I expect to see this one up on the front page too.

I am with Tracy - it tends to convey pain or compassion for someone else's pain to me.

uvikidd said 550 days ago:

calm

mtmartini said 550 days ago:

Brant, it is between the brows that I sense the anguish. Kyla loves to put her fingers on my forehead because I scrunch my face up all the time, a perpetual state of surprise is what some would say, she just says I squint.

dennis said 549 days ago:

Very contemplative. A touch of Jean Reno here. I like that this is just a straight up shot of you, no tricks, no gimmicks.

bslomovic said 549 days ago:

Thanks for the comments Craig.

Haha, thanks Dennis. Funny, I have heard the Jean Reno resemblance many times, especially when in France and mostly when I was younger and used to have glasses.

King said 549 days ago:

I find his to be deeply enjoyable. I only wish the crop on the hand weren't so awkward (e.g., just tip of that finger?).

I like this a lot. High marks.

bslomovic said 549 days ago:

Thanks very much King. Yeah, it appears the hand thing is what is getting almost everyone. Thanks for the high marks which had quite an impact to what were pretty sub-par ratings prior to your contribution.

King said 549 days ago:

When I say high marks, I mean high marks. :>)

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