The Gentleman's Gentleman

Hiya Travis,

Well just like American idol its time for a word from the judges.

What does this image say to me - Well I know it’s an executive for a company, and I am going to guess he works for a gardening company due to the background. Am I right? Hmmm some how I don’t think so. If he does work as a gardener then please forgive me but I am sure he works for something else and that I am afraid is the problem.

A portrait of a business man should always include something that shows just what he does. Flowers and gardens look nice but if he doesn't own a business that employs landscape gardeners you can see the problem, it would be like sticking the Executive in charge of Ford in front of a McDonalds, you can see it doesn’t work.

So what to do well find out as much as you can about the person and then work out how you can place that into his executive portrait. Does he enjoy golf? Does he own a factory, does he have a big shiny table that would act as a reflector for him to stand or sit behind? You have the start of a good idea but the attention to the little things is what it takes to make that one photo that will sell your name to every executive that that person knows.

On positioning you should always as a rule place men facing left to right and woman facing right to left, reason being if you look at your shirt then look at a girls you will see they do up differently and if you shoot someone the wrong way you can see into the shirt. That’s Stew's top portrait tip for the day.

Cheers and beers

Stew

I haven't been keeping up with my duties here!  I usually try to look at am image several times over a few days before posting a critque:

My take on this image is a little different from what the others have said.  My guess is that this portrait is from a wedding series, not an executive or other type portrait.  The jacket and tie seem more formal than those of a business suit.

Taken in this view, the background is much less of an issue.  It is still too dark for my taste.  I generally go for brighter backgrounds.  The lighting, again in this view is not too bad.  I would prefer to see more light in both eyes, but the right is particularly dark and lacks a catch light.  This could even be added digitally and would liven up the look (as would a smile!)

Where this image falls short for me is in the posing:  The subject is far too upright and stiff for a good portrait.  It looks like you have his right leg up on a bench or stool which is a good start.  But, you then have his right arm extended with his hand on his knee.  You should try leaning his forarm on his thigh (the elbow and the knee will be very close; difficult to explain, very easy to show.)  This will force him to lean forward and you can then tip his head into a "masculine" pose (tipped toward his right).  Then his left hand can be draped over his right wrist.  This will a couple things.  It will slim him a little bit, it will make him appear less static, it will tip his head.  Tipping his head here will make a big improvement in your lighting.  It looks like the sun was low in the sky and tipping his head (within reason) will make the light come more from the top of his head.

The slight vignette at the bottom is appropriate, but I would like see the overall image brighter.

As others noted, this is nice work that could have been much better with a little more care and attension to detail.

Ed