Forum Competition#127 "Eyes, Mouth, Eyebrows"

[Paul Jones]

Fans of headshot photographer Peter Hurley will know that he advocates there are three things we use on our face to communicate: eyes, mouth and eyebrows. Effective use of these three elements can make the difference between a 'likeness of a person' and a 'superb portrait'.

For this competition I want you to enter a full-face portrait or headshot of a single person where you have captured their personality and are showing me something of their character. To help you, perhaps think of a great smile; a frown; a twinkle in the eye; a squinch; a cocky eyebrow, etc - I hope you get the idea.

- ONE entry per person
- The competition will run for two weeks. The closing date is midnight on Tuesday 29th April.
- I will select the winner and he/she will then choose the theme for the next competition.

Good luck!

[yachtsman1]

My entry is a picture of Simon King of the Hairy Bikers (poor mans Russel Crowe?). It was taken at a live recording of an episode of their show "Mum Knows Best".
Eric.

[melbarnes]

This is Denni, whom we met in India - she's very down to earth, and as you can see, a great laugh.

[John]

Emma:

036-Emma-4.jpg (218.95 KiB) Viewed 8098 times

[Mrs Yachtsman1]

This picture was taken at a charity concert for Great Ormonde's childrens hospital. Given by the Leyburn Ladies Choir. The lady in the picture is their 100+ year old ex pianist. Eric made an A4 framed print for her to keep.
Mrs Yachtsman1
Margaret.

[Dennis G]

A friends Grandmother taken at wedding reception, maybe be a sherry or two too many !!

[mikeaspinall]

This chap was on Brighton Pier trying to impress a group of young ladies. I call him the Doughnut Man.

[KEASLA]

3 Eyes (Say What You See) by KEASLA, on Flickr

[Paul Jones]

For this competition I want you to enter a full-face portrait or headshot of a single person where you have captured their personality and are showing me something of their character. To help you, perhaps think of a great smile; a frown; a twinkle in the eye; a squinch; a cocky eyebrow, etc - I hope you get the idea.

ADAPS has a lot of portrait photographers, so, from the low turnout I'm thinking that I was perhaps confusing in my brief. I was simply looking for a portrait with character. The eyes, mouth and eyebrows happen to be the main ingredients in that.


Yachtsman
Eric, sorry to be critical, however I'm not seeing any 'character' in this photograph at all. I'm guessing it was a quick grab shot taken from the crowd at an event.

Mel Barnes
Mel, whether it was staged or a genuine laugh you've caught a believable expression. I would have preferred the face to be turned more towards the camera, but that's a minor nit-pick.

John Riley
I kept looking at this one. There's something going on behind those eyes that hooked me in. Technically, the diagonal compostion fills the frame nicely.

Mrs Yachtsman
I see an old woman.
I'm sure she has 100 years of tales to tell with those eyes, but I'm just not seeing it, sorry.
See this Bailey photograph of an old woman and I hope you'll understand what I'm getting at - viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3162

Dennis G
Another 'grab shot', but this time you've shown me something believable that I can relate to.

Mike Aspinall
Funny glasses and doughnuts show me what he does for his job, and might do well in an open competition, but what of the person behind the glasses?

Jared (Keasla)
You've taken the 'eyes' reference in my brief a bit literally here.
But you've given me a shot that draws you in and tells me something about yourself. There's life and character in those eyes.


OK, thank-you to everyone for entering. I am sorry for being blunt with my judging, but my top 3 are:

3rd: Mel Barnes
2nd: Jared
1st: Dennis G


Over to Dennis to set the theme for the next competition, with the usual two-week deadline.

[Dennis G]

Thanks Paul

The next theme will follow shortly.