Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/PZ Myers

PZ Myers

Original - Paul Zachary "PZ" Myers, biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) and the author of the science blog Pharyngula. He is a public critic of intelligent design and of the creationist movement in general, and is an activist in the American creation-evolution controversy. He is also noted for his work on zebrafish and evo-devo.

Reason

A very good picture of a notable publiciser of biology, whose blog, Pharyngula, was listed by Nature as the top-ranking blog written by a scientist. In addition to its general quality, it was provided by PZ Myers himself, and this is exactly the sort of thing that we want to encourage people to do.

Articles this image appears in

PZ Myers

Creator

• Support as nominator --Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 02:09, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Weak oppose -- encyclopedic and meritorious, but just about zero zip. Not really FP material, imo. But a fine contribution. Cheers, Pete Tillman (talk) 03:24, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

• Oppose Distracting background for a portrait. --Janke | Talk 09:24, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
• Comment Following on from previous comments, it seems the better way to get this on the front page is to make an FA of it. It will be a smaller thumbnail, but it will still be on the front page. Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 11:40, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
• Comment - This guy is my hero! But PLW is right. pschemp | talk 15:38, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
• Oppose. Poor lighting is the principal flaw that comes to mind. Spikebrennan (talk) 16:18, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
• Oppose EV is there but does not have the special wow effect. Muhammad(talk) 16:23, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
• Oppose per the above. Hastily done. The subject's passport is visible through his pocket and he wears a strap across his shoulder that's probably either luggage or a laptop. Background is not well chosen: the main advantage of shooting portraits outdoors on gray days is the wonderful effect that diffuse light can have on human skin. Going in close for a head and shoulders shot or using a narrow depth of field can get great results in that situation. This doesn't have that advantage because he's still in direct sunlight, with resultant harsh effects, yet the cropping and focus are such that it looks like a drab urban setting with a bridge growing out of his ears and a construction crane picking lice from his scalp. High EV and a sufficiently large file in good focus, but it's a snapshot. Sorry, can't support. Durova^Charge! 17:49, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
• Comment You could try and nominate it as a candidate for a Valued Image on Commons. I think it would have a good chance of making it there. -- Slaunger (talk) 22:21, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Not promoted . --John254 01:13, 17 August 2008 (UTC)