What is wrong with this photo?

I posted it for critiques and got some really low ratings but no one

has commented. Can someone tell me exactly what is wrong with it?

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?

topic_id=1481&msg_id=00FkFe&photo_id=4250495&photo_sel_index=0

<<I posted it for critiques and got some really low ratings but no one has commented>>

 

Welcome to photo.net? Comments aren't required and some people just don't give them. It can be frustrating to some, but it is what it is.

 

If you think 3 is a "really low" rating, I think you're in for a bit of a surprise.

I think it's a nice photo. I like the execution, the girl's pose and her expression. A couple of things, though: the background is somewhat distracting. Posing the girl against a neutral backdrop would have been a good idea. Addionally, I wasn't sure what's the purpose of the small figure standing on the plate which led to some confusion on my part regarding to what the photo is about. My sibjective 2 cents.

I did not rate it ,but in my opinion the lighting is a little flat, maybe over lit would be a better description. I also think the photo is too contrived, from too much make-up on the little girl, to the unnatural expression and fake looking pose. Adding the cutout of the girl in the dish and it's just topping on a already too rich cake. I think you took a nice Idea and over did it.I think when you look at a photo you should get the idea of what the photographer was trying to show you in a subtle way, not hit the viewer over the head with it. I hope you take this in the spirit which it was given.

I feel there are a few things in this photo that just do not work. Remember that this is all just my opinion so do not take my comments to heart.

 

1. The overall lighting of this image is very dull. The colors should really pop and be vibrant especially when dealing with children and fantasy. The large girls shirt should not be a dull green and the whites should be white not grey i.e. the chefs hat.

 

2. The make up for the large girl is not very age appropriate and has a negative effect rather than a positive one for this photo.

 

3. The large girl looks as if she has no neck. While I realize she is supposed to be shrugging in surprise it is just is not a flattering pose and is awkward.

 

4. The model should be in a kitchen or around a table not in front of a large brown armoire. By placing the armoire in the bg it sucks all the fantasy out of this image and we are left wondering why a girl who looks like she just made this wonderful dessert is standing in someone's country living room.

 

5. The dessert is unrecognizable. At first glance it looks like a red glob and it takes a second to realize there are strawberries on that plate with some white stuff. People should know that it is a strawberry shortcake or whatever dessert this is trying to be. Even something simple like chocolate covered strawberries would work.

 

6.The little girl does not look like she belongs in this image at all. The lighting is totally wrong, Its coming from the right and is pretty harsh while for the rest of the image seems to have several light sources. Her shadow is way too dark and also does not fit with the existing lighting. She also does not seem to be actually standing on the plate rather just hovering above it. Also her pose is very awkward making her arms and legs seem very un-proportional. Even though she is wearing a costume she should look somewhat ﾓnormalﾔ.

 

7. The overall composition is pretty good. There is a definite battle between what the main focus of this image is. But after a few seconds looking I realize its the small girl and my eye travels to the small girl following her leg to the dessert then to the large girls left arm up to her face around to the hair on the right side back down her arm back to the dessert and the small girl. You should choose what you what you want this photo to be about then emphasize it because right now I cant seem to tell what that is.

 

Overall you have a good base to work with I think you just have to push it a little more.

Critiques are intersting creatures aren't they? The whole exercise presupposes a set of correct aesthetics by which images are measured against. In the photo.net community, I suspect you'll get comments to the effect that the picture is entirely sacchrine. Keep in mind that this is the same crowd that probably also pooh-poohs Thomas Kincaid pictures (while his artwork is held in the highest esteem in other circles.)

 

Anyways, back to your upload: the composite doesn't look quite right. If you're shooting for realism, something's missing...

Ignoring the special effect:

 

The photo looks like competent flash. The skin tone is good and the composition is very good. However, it does not have not-you-out-of-you-chair sharpness (or other feature)...and so has no real signature.

 

Considering the special effect:

 

At this point in (wide-spread) technology I tend not to accept at any digital special effect that can be recognized as a digital special effect...

The link won't open for me, but I can see that all of your work suffers from "too much light". The catch lights in the eyes reveal only a single light?

 

You need to move your main light off the lens axis and raise it, and add a lower powered fill light or a reflector on the shaded side.

 

Lighting the entire plane of the face like in your shots, serves to widen a thin face, or fatten a normal one. You need to research the terms "broad" and "short" lighting. Simply put "short" light is when the 2/3rd's plane of the face away from the lens, recieves the main light. This is more flattering, and helps to create both depth, and illusion of the 3rd dimension.

 

try here: http://jzportraits.home.att.net/

Thank you all for your input. The reason for the special effects is that it is a pageant portfolio shot of my daughter. This type of special effect is pretty popular right now. You have the large version and then a smaller version somewhere in the photo. I agree that for normal photography my lighting is flat. However, for pageant photography it must be very even with no shadows. I worked a while trying to get it just right. I've got down now where my photos are evenly lit with 3 catch lights in the eyes. The photos I have on this site are old. My lighting is a bit different now. I'll be using this photo at a pageant this weekend. I will let ya'll know how it does. -Kim :)

the strawberry girl on the cake makes it look phoney IMO.

From the discusion, I conclude (with uncertainty) that the pic you want critiqued is the strawberry girl.

 

Right?

 

[Could you try to give us a clickable URL next time, please.]

 

I know that you are serious with photography, but when I look at your pics they are all willfully kitschy (at least to me). They are silly, overstuffed and a social critique more than they are beautiful. Trashy poses, surroundings, compositions that would make an impact in trailer parks, no doubt. But human portraits with emotions, histories, quandries, sorrows you do not give. It is the "beauty queen contests" that you depict.

 

Sorry, but they do not send me, except to go throw our trash out now.

photos with "emotions, histories, quandries, sorrows" are not what pageant judges are looking for. If I have learned anything in the last week. It is that I do not need to worry about the opinions on this board. As they will not agree with the opinions of the judges that I create these photos for. My daughter won over all photogenic with another photo, and over all portfolio from the strawberry shortcake photo out of 30 kids. To the poster above. Thank you so much for stating that my daughters posing is trashy. However, she's a doll and the pic above has been well received. I also booked 4 shoots this weekend with that photo! :)

I am sorry, but I have no idea what "pageant judges" judge?

 

I was talking merely about photography and art.