Critique please for a newbie

[geoff_sanson]

Hi. I'm new to portrait photography and would like your opinions on this

picture that I took for friends. All comments are very much appreciated.

[giggles]

Hi Geoff - I am not sure I like the angle for tow people. I think for the little boy alone it would work good but it makes the lady appear older than she probably is due to her expression and shadowing. Your colors are good but the photo is lacking an emotional connection between the subjects which I think is important part of a photograph when two people are used.

[thebird]

WOW! I love it! Perfect lighting on the side of the boys face. Agree with Emily that the boy by

himself would be nice. I'm not sure her squinting is adding emotino to his sense of wonder! I

love the anlge, it really pulled me in immediately!

 

Be nice to see more and see if you have consistency!

[www.philwinterphotography.]

When the image first loaded, I thought, is that all there is? It seems cut off at the bottom to me, and the boy's knee in the blue jeans dominates the image. The woman's facial expression doesn't work for me. I think pulling back for a bit more context would help. The upward angle is different, but it doesn't work for me here. But you did capture great light, and good separation from the background sky.

 

Keep shooting

[j_sevigny]

I agree with the poster who said she didn't like the angle. But I think the tones in the photo are quite interesting, like old Kodak film. I also think the lighting is great. I tend to use low angles to make people look big and iconic.

[vic_glass]

I like your shot very much because it is different and creative. You've broken rules, which can be good, but you should probably get to know the standard rules a bit more too. For example your shot is a "nostril shot" which some will tell you to avoid, but if you look around you'll find good photographers doing it. Who you are doing the portrait for is a factor too. if you are doing it for yourself then you only need please yourself. If you are doing it for a client then you'll need to please them. Finally, look at the shot in grayscale - I do portraits in grayscale (i.e."black & white") when color doesn't add anything or gets in the way.