Untitled

I appreciate any feedback you feel this photo deserves...

RLL

Your image is oversaturated to begin with. It is a normal tendency when getting started in digital photography. The busy background is not really compatible with portraiture and, in this case, the colors are not supportive, either. The white triangular area over her right shoulder only matches the flower,and both are too stark in contrast with the other elements. Lighting appears decent, but the dark ring around her neck is a problem. Is it lighting or somethng else causing it? Your light is coming from the left foreground and is about right, but the left side of her face including her cheek, lower eye, mouth, and chin and neck areas are not illuminated to match. If you don't have Photoshop, get it instead of the next lens you planned to buy. It will save your images far better than a new lens. Also, when you post an image for critique, make the image at least 500x500 pixels in size so it is easier to work with when it is critiqued. This one is about 250x300 which is hard to work with. I did a rough cut at extracting the background, then copied what was left--an outline of your subject. I opened another New, blank image and made my own background colors using a circular graduation of white and blue colors. I pasted the cutout on the New background and proceded to soften the neck shadow, the chin darkness, whiten the teeth, and color the flower, to name a few corrections.

That's a great smile for braces. Most folks don't even try. Anyway, here is my product. Maybe this will help you on your next portrait shoot. Good luck. Lamar McInnis,Sr.

Thanks for the feedback and sample image. The background is a busy one, that's for sure. We actually did these shots downtown to go along with the look she was trying for. After the shoot, my wife and I actually commented that we should have used reflectors to get some additional light where we needed it. RE: Photoshop, we actual do have CS3 so we should have some decent tools for post editing.

Thanks again for the input, we'll try to put your advice into action!

RLL