Wow! I love the idea and the general approach, but it doesn't all come together for me. For sure it needs to lose some of the negative space on the left. Maybe as much as 90% of it. Then the focus issue. It bothers me that the Keys on the left aren't sharp, but too much sharpness throughout would surely ruin the effect. I'm thinking shooting it tack sharp and then using a radial filter to selectively add a slight blur/diffusion would work better. In any case I'd like to see the shot explored more extensively.

Taken with my G15 p&s

No doubt the frame is a major compositional element and it needs to be dealt with. However, the center of interest to me is the guy in the white T-shirt and the girl in the tan sweater. What are they talking about? Are they lovers, friends? What is going on? I'd like to see them sharper. The scene probably needs to be shot with a somewhat smaller aperture and a faster shutter speed. You might want to play with the white balance too. If this is a local establishment, I would make an entire project of photographing it. I think there is a lot of human interest potential here. Shoot, shoot, shoot!

Everyone's going to think I'm a hypocrite. I just finished objecting to Jim Hill's Mannequin shot for reflections in the window being distracting; now I'm going to say they are an important compositional element in this one. Not only are they compositionally important, but they echo the pattern in the coat, and even give a face of sorts to the mannequin. I don't know who the chap impressed to get the lipstick, but I know if I wore that outfit I'd likely be run out of town on a rail! Very well seen and exceptionally well executed. I like the way all the lines are complementary. The bars, the window reflections, the chain. It all works together. Very strong.

I thought the graphic of the rising sun would be an appropriate background for an ninja avatar. It is said that they do their best work at night and fade into the shadows at sunrise. :-D And why a ninja? I don't know; fifteen years in the Far East left me with a strange sense of humor I guess. And how did you know the name "Hinomaru?" Did a bit of Nihon go rub off on you?

Jim, you did a good job of focusing and exposing this photo, and that isn't always easy through a window. I do find the reflections distracting though. You could remove most or all of them with a polarizing filter
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I think tis is an interesting shot. It's a strong subject, well captured. The dramatic sky and craggy hills compete with the weathered stump for attention. If there's any available I'd add a sliver more of foreground to strengthen the composition. I'd add local contrast and saturation to the stump to make it pop and add a slight vignette to focus attention to your main subject area.

Ok, so forgetting about he whose name may not be said, it looks like you could recover most or all of the detail in your whites by reducing the highlights, and boost the black more if you can. Killing the reflections in most of the windows with a polarizer is a good suggestion (Erdos2)too. It looks like you've lost some sharpness, possibly because you used a very high f stop. The sweet spot for most lenses falls between f8 and f11. Higher f stops give greater depth of field, but at the cost of a lack of sharpness. So you have to balance. Try focusing about 1/3 of the way into the subject. I think you have the beginning of something good here. Just keep at it. P.S.: All of us have been influenced by some great photographer. Absolutely no need to apologize for it.

Well seen. Masterful composition. This is great in it's simplicity, which forces us to look more closely at the subject. In that vein, I'd like to see a hint of detail in the hair and dress and the skin a bit smoother.

I like the way you tell a story with your photos. I hate that people post a photo like this and 40 different people come up with 40 different ways to crop it. I won't do that, but I think you have a lot of visually non-productive space on the left

When I review his pictures, I see a ton of contrast, pervasive vignetting, and use of very wide angle lenses to distort the relationship of the near (foreground) and far elements of his subject (Near is large. Far is small.)He keeps his compositions simple and clean to emphasize the graphic elements. I think you got the contrast part down and the rays of light sort of give that near/far feeling, but you could concentrate on bringing that to the main element of your picture and working on simple to the point of minimalist. Buildings, bridges, and structures with sweeping lines are good subjects. This picture would also lend itself to a vignette to focus your attention. All in all I think it is a great start.

I'm not a big fan of posterization, but I think it works here. Mainly I like the simple effect of the shot, but the blue cast is disturbing so rebalancing the color and adding a little vignette to help pull the eye to center would be helpful to me.

This is a nice pattern shot. Well seen. A frequent problem with these is that there may not be a center of interest, and your eye just roams around it. In yours, If you crop off the purple carrots on the left, it will put the little green leaves on a rule of thirds junction, and make it a place for your eye to rest. This will strengthen the composition.

Interesting idea. I like the box to add interest with new texture. Focus and exposure are on the money. The lighting is a little hard and contrasty for this subject. You could raise the flashes higher and light from an angle behind the subject, using a reflector to fill; or you could feather the flashes to soften the light. I think either technique will give you a great result. Either way, try to get more light on the flower than on the vase (it is too reflective).

[quote=Singing Swan]What is THE one thing you can do most often to make people comfortable with the camera pointing at them??

I don't think there is any one thing, but it is very important to talk to them a lot in a supportive way; and show them good shots as soon as you get them. It's a good time to coach them as well. The more they get involved, the more comfortable they will get.
I keep first time shoots somewhat short, and limit them to head shots so I don't have to get too detailed about posing.