What do you think of this shot?

[david_m]

I've had different opinions which I suppose is to be expected.<div></div>

[mike dixon]

Pose is contrived and awkward. She looks rather confused. The brown toning is a bit much. It's not at all clear to me what the goal of this shot was.

[ken dennis]

Well, for once Mike, you and I are in agreement on something!

[red_jenny]

"I have a headache and am a bit gassy"

[jay ott]

How about this? "I should have kept it blond".

[clauder]

What about 'how the hell did that superglue get on my hand'?

[clauder]

or maybe 'are we done yet?!'

[joseph_wisniewski]

Aside from the hand positions, expression, and brown tone that have already been pointed out...

 

Something about the armpits doesn't look right (and I don't just mean the trellis growing out of one of them). The left elbow "leaning" against the edge of the picture isn't working for me, either. The right elbow coming toward the camera looks dispoportionatly large. The blown out area on the forearm exagerates this effect. The way the fabric is scrunching up on the right side of the dress calls attention to itself (as well as the dot print on the fabric).

 

I was taught to sandwich my criticism, start with a positive, end with a positive, negatives in the middle. Or alternate positive and negative. But in this picture, I still haven't found a positive.

[marit]

Agree with Mike. You could try some cropping to make it a bit more original... or you could just discard it and take another.

[mozart 2]

David:

 

Perhaps you would obtain far better results if you stop "posing" people or attempting to put them into preconceived "poses", especially women, gain a great deal of understanding and patience with all your subjects and then allow them to express themselves. At that point, your photographs will begin to come into "life".

 

For some thoughts on this point of view, you might wish to read "The Eye of Eisenstaedt" by Alfred Eisenstaedt, who was one of the original photographers for Life magazine. The book is, unforfunately, out of print, but copies are avaiable through your public library and/or either one of the two excellent sources of used books: abe.com or alibris.com

 

In the meantime, link to this site for a brief introduction to the work of Eisenstaedt, note his comments on his photograph "Premiere at La Scala, 1933" - scroll down a bit until you see the photograph on the right hand side; and then read the last paragraph and then memorize the sentence which reads: "I still use, most of the time, existing light and try not to push people around. I have to be as much a diplomat as a photographer."

 

Technically, the use of toning is very inappropriate to the subject at hand - modern clothes, for example; it is a typical "armpit" female shot; and the young lady is expressing a great amount of awkwardness, but you, unfortunately, weren't paying attention.

 

There's is one last book, you might wish to read: It's currently available at Amazon.com and through your public library.

 

The book is "Woman: An Intimate Geography" by Natalie Angier.

 

Just a thought!

 

Bill

[kim_ramsey]

I'm sure this was hard for you. I hate when pics that I am so proud of aren't as great as I thought. But, this is how you learn. You've got a very beautiful subject. I agree with most of the above posts minus some of the shrewd remarks. haha. Get rid of the sepia or tone it down just a bit...well, maybe more than a bit. One of my pet peeves is harsh splotches of sun light. Which is present in this picture especially on her arms and in the background and on her boob lol (milk stain?). Hands are very important in the type of shot you were trying to get. Try to keep them posed gracefully. They look somewhat ackward in this portrait. Bad cropping...it's strange where you chose to crop it off at the bottom of her waist. It makes her look very wide. This model is a bit over weight and her dress was too small. It's your job to take all of her flaws and hide them. Because her dress didn't fit her correctly her armpit areas kind of bulge and dangle. The photo is missing the pretty curves that every model deserves. Her eyes are nice and bright...I like that.

 

Try to find areas with more shade, watch your backgrouds, try positioning her arms flowing gracefully toward the back of her. zoom and crop better. do your photo shoots after 5pm in the outdoors or on overcast days. invest in reflectors.

[potok]

ok i dont want to comment on the pose, but i trully dont understand the color, just leave it

color. She is young healthy, your camera is high tech, so let the skin comes to life. But

then being in Arizona as you, i can understand where all the brown/bronze idea comes

from.