First "paid" job! Comments & criticism welcome!

An acquaintance wanted a "Christmas portrait." He asked how much I would charge and I told him "whatever you think the result is worth."

IMAGE LINK: http://i.imgur.com/OqX​6t.jpg

Looks nice and sharp, good lighting, expression. My critical comments are on the composition - his face is too close to the left which makes him look even more like he is slouching or leaning over. Is it cropped? That and the background is distracting. My art teach from third grade always made it a point to close your eyes then open them - and what's the first thing you see, in other words what are your eyes drawn to. For me, the blurry lights in the background are what I see. Of course, it is Christmas so the theme may be more acceptable.

Have you show this to your acquaintance yet?

juicedownload wrote in post #15454927
Looks nice and sharp, good lighting, expression. My critical comments are on the composition - his face is too close to the left which makes him look even more like he is slouching or leaning over. Is it cropped? That and the background is distracting. My art teach from third grade always made it a point to close your eyes then open them - and what's the first thing you see, in other words what are your eyes drawn to. For me, the blurry lights in the background are what I see. Of course, it is Christmas so the theme may be more acceptable.

Have you show this to your acquaintance yet?

He's thrilled with it and paid me $100.

I only cropped a little off the top to make it 8 x 10. When shooting I tried to follow the rule of thirds, but perhaps I should have put his right eye on that point instead of his left? I chose that background on purpose for the Christmas theme. I couldn't get it any darker because I was bouncing flash off the ceiling and it was hitting the tree as well. Thank you for the tip about closing your eyes and then opening them, I never thought of that, I will certainly try it! Thanks for the input!

I think it's a good photograph. I like the bokeh with the Christmas lights. I think it works here. I'd recrop him so he's more to the right. Otherwise, I think it looks pretty good.

Nice shot. I would have set it up so there was a little gap between his head and the lights, just to avoid distracting overlaps. Apart from that a nice Christmas shot.

Nice shot. Portraits like this should be centered-ish or at least not have that much space behind his head but it's sharp and I love the lights in the back.

I like it.

$100 is a killer price for a single photo especially for a someone who doesn't do it for money. In your case, the name a price negotiation worked out quite well. I remember when I made $325 dollars from 10 minutes of photography and 30 minutes of review and sales, and thought, wow if only I could consistently do this. I think you have good potential, the hard part is not so much the photography, but marketing a price that will enable a sustainable business.

I sold my first photo to some Va Bch tourist place on the strip for $500. They absolutely loved it and wanted rights for the photo.

Solid shot! Congrats!

I like the shot, the lights could be a distraction yet they are not the main attraction. Love the genuine expression. Good work.

This is a very nice photograph.
I feel like you captured your subject in a genuine, real way.
Good luck on getting more "paid" jobs!

It's kind of hard to tell that it's a Christmas tree behind him, to my eyes. And the rule of thirds for single person portraits doesn't always hold up because of a singular subject. Two people or more it holds up well. Possibly some Christmas props could have been more effective than the tree behind him.

Good shot, especially with glasses involved.

Congrats on your first paid job. This year looks to be good for me too. Already have two authors lined up for book profiles and a few kids parties to do.