I don't remember your hair looking like that -- so very, if I may say so, boring. Of course, I last saw your hair a full decade ago, and it may have changed. Or it may just blend into the background of the image.
A decade ago I had more hair. If I wear it any longer than in that pic, it looks just stupid. For some reason, longer hair on a guy balding in front just emphasizes the baldness.
Remember, this was just a photoshop mosaic to show a theme. I can do decent Visio sketches, but a professional -- or even semiprofessional -- at artwork I ain't. It got the overall effect I wanted, at least for me, but I wouldn't expect it to be used by someone in, say, a national ad campaign.
Next photo, I'd go with a solid-color collared shirt. Stripes just don't say "professional,"
Fortunately, I don't say "professional" either. I say "geek", "nerd", and "otaku". I'm not sure I *OWN* a solid-color collared shirt, if by "collared" you mean "something that could take a tie". I have one or two ties... somewhere. I haven't worn one, even to military presentations, in at least two years, and -- gods willing -- never will again. Maybe at a awards ball I'll make an exception. Maybe.
Also, there's no energy to that pose. The asymmetry is bland. Your crossed arms are tangent to the lower edge of the image, which is a compositional no-no; your face isn't at the magic one-third position; and it looks like you have stubs for fingers.
At this point you've passed into the "what the heck are you talking about" phase -- where the layman is hearing jargon that means nothing to him. I literally don't understand what you're talking about. My wife might, being an art major, but ... I'm *sitting*. Energy? Of course not. It's a casual sit-down -- like seeing me at a signing. The fingers, well, it's a crossed-arm pose so the fingers are folded. The middle part there totally loses me, though.
Your facial expression and head position is very bland. You're not baring your teeth in challenge, quirking an eyebrow, or turned to three-quarter view. You're leaning towards the camera, so your neck is foreshortened. You look positively vapid.
Why would I "bare my teeth in challenge"? It's a casual, friendly picture. I *HATE* the "Overdramatic Author Pictures" that I sometimes see published, with them having some freaky angle or extreme expression. I suppose it works for someone like Stephen King.
I think the upper frame of the eyeglasses obscure your eyebrows blend together in this shot, and they also bend down at the corners -- it looks a bit dour. And the yellow tint gives a jaundiced tint to the area around your eyes.
Yeah, apparently the tint on my screen is off. And it's even differently off with respect to printing. I tried doing a quick tweak before printing a couple pics, and what looked more like healthy "me" skin tone on the screen came out as "almost sunburned red".
And it's not the glasses. My eyebrows *DO* blend together and bend down at the corners. To make them look more like "eyebrows" instead of "eyebrow", I have to have them trimmed/waxed. Haven't had that done in a few years...
Curse you, testosterone receptors on follicular cells, curse you! Indeed, I can sympathize. I look just fine from the front, but have recently had cause to find that I respond well to Minoxidil. I also have an alarming (i.e., nonzero) amount of grey at the temples; if I'm lucky, I'll end up looking like Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four.
:::Remember, this was just a photoshop mosaic to show a theme. I can do decent Visio sketches, but a professional -- or even semiprofessional -- at artwork I ain't.
That's no reason not to use it as a learning experience. And basic compositional theory is applicable to everything from vacation photos to written report layouts.
:::I'm not sure I *OWN* a solid-color collared shirt, if by "collared" you mean "something that could take a tie".
No, a polo shirt would work just fine.
Alternatively, you could go with a vest, jacket, cape -- you've got a fondness for capes, right? -- or rakishly-wound scarf. Anything to add some detail to the shoulders and the shoulder-neck junction.
###Also, there's no energy to that pose. The asymmetry is bland.
:::At this point you've passed into the "what the heck are you talking about" phase -- where the layman is hearing jargon that means nothing to him.
Basic composition: an image acquires visual interest through dynamic imbalance: value (light/dark), color, line weight, position, size, foreground/background. Exact bilateral symmetry is boring. Asymmetry, done right, isn't. If Aspect X is unbalanced to the left, and Aspect Y to the right, the net effect is balanced.
This is especially important (and tricky) in montage, when you're working with multiple elements. You can probably think of movie posters that have done it badly.
For the "energy" of a figural pose, freeze-frame any anime, or take a look at the "how to draw comics" section of your local bookstore. If you're just sitting or slouching, that's not it. The parts of your body will add up, visually, to a boring pile. (Mirror neurons are probably involved, too: see a fellow human in a pose, and you feel that pose.)
:::Why would I "bare my teeth in challenge"?
Because life itself is a challenge! The universe is no friend of ours. It wants to squash us! To squash us like the tiny, squashable things we refuse to admit we are! To crush our cosmically irrelevant hopes and aspirations against the cold and uncaring rocks of the gravity well on which we live our tiny, laughable lives!
Or it could be a reaction to the intimidating swords-akimbo chap in the upper-right. But that may just be me.
###And the yellow tint gives a jaundiced [cast]
:::Yeah, apparently the tint on my screen is off.
Ah, the perils of color reproduction, and the mysteries of Photoshop's color-separation and Pantone features. The classic black-and-white portraitists didn't know what they were missing, but would be glad that they were.
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Re: Photographic critiques
A decade ago I had more hair. If I wear it any longer than in that pic, it looks just stupid. For some reason, longer hair on a guy balding in front just emphasizes the baldness.
Remember, this was just a photoshop mosaic to show a theme. I can do decent Visio sketches, but a professional -- or even semiprofessional -- at artwork I ain't. It got the overall effect I wanted, at least for me, but I wouldn't expect it to be used by someone in, say, a national ad campaign.
Next photo, I'd go with a solid-color collared shirt. Stripes just don't say "professional,"
Fortunately, I don't say "professional" either. I say "geek", "nerd", and "otaku". I'm not sure I *OWN* a solid-color collared shirt, if by "collared" you mean "something that could take a tie". I have one or two ties... somewhere. I haven't worn one, even to military presentations, in at least two years, and -- gods willing -- never will again. Maybe at a awards ball I'll make an exception. Maybe.
Also, there's no energy to that pose. The asymmetry is bland. Your crossed arms are tangent to the lower edge of the image, which is a compositional no-no; your face isn't at the magic one-third position; and it looks like you have stubs for fingers.
At this point you've passed into the "what the heck are you talking about" phase -- where the layman is hearing jargon that means nothing to him. I literally don't understand what you're talking about. My wife might, being an art major, but ... I'm *sitting*. Energy? Of course not. It's a casual sit-down -- like seeing me at a signing. The fingers, well, it's a crossed-arm pose so the fingers are folded. The middle part there totally loses me, though.
Your facial expression and head position is very bland. You're not baring your teeth in challenge, quirking an eyebrow, or turned to three-quarter view. You're leaning towards the camera, so your neck is foreshortened. You look positively vapid.
Why would I "bare my teeth in challenge"? It's a casual, friendly picture. I *HATE* the "Overdramatic Author Pictures" that I sometimes see published, with them having some freaky angle or extreme expression. I suppose it works for someone like Stephen King.
I think the upper frame of the eyeglasses obscure your eyebrows blend together in this shot, and they also bend down at the corners -- it looks a bit dour. And the yellow tint gives a jaundiced tint to the area around your eyes.
Yeah, apparently the tint on my screen is off. And it's even differently off with respect to printing. I tried doing a quick tweak before printing a couple pics, and what looked more like healthy "me" skin tone on the screen came out as "almost sunburned red".
And it's not the glasses. My eyebrows *DO* blend together and bend down at the corners. To make them look more like "eyebrows" instead of "eyebrow", I have to have them trimmed/waxed. Haven't had that done in a few years...
Re[2]: Photographic critiques
:::
Curse you, testosterone receptors on follicular cells, curse you! Indeed, I can sympathize. I look just fine from the front, but have recently had cause to find that I respond well to Minoxidil. I also have an alarming (i.e., nonzero) amount of grey at the temples; if I'm lucky, I'll end up looking like Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four.
:::
That's no reason not to use it as a learning experience. And basic compositional theory is applicable to everything from vacation photos to written report layouts.
:::
No, a polo shirt would work just fine.
Alternatively, you could go with a vest, jacket, cape -- you've got a fondness for capes, right? -- or rakishly-wound scarf. Anything to add some detail to the shoulders and the shoulder-neck junction.
###
:::
Basic composition: an image acquires visual interest through dynamic imbalance: value (light/dark), color, line weight, position, size, foreground/background. Exact bilateral symmetry is boring. Asymmetry, done right, isn't. If Aspect X is unbalanced to the left, and Aspect Y to the right, the net effect is balanced.
This is especially important (and tricky) in montage, when you're working with multiple elements. You can probably think of movie posters that have done it badly.
For the "energy" of a figural pose, freeze-frame any anime, or take a look at the "how to draw comics" section of your local bookstore. If you're just sitting or slouching, that's not it. The parts of your body will add up, visually, to a boring pile. (Mirror neurons are probably involved, too: see a fellow human in a pose, and you feel that pose.)
:::
Because life itself is a challenge! The universe is no friend of ours. It wants to squash us! To squash us like the tiny, squashable things we refuse to admit we are! To crush our cosmically irrelevant hopes and aspirations against the cold and uncaring rocks of the gravity well on which we live our tiny, laughable lives!
Or it could be a reaction to the intimidating swords-akimbo chap in the upper-right. But that may just be me.
###
:::
Ah, the perils of color reproduction, and the mysteries of Photoshop's color-separation and Pantone features. The classic black-and-white portraitists didn't know what they were missing, but would be glad that they were.