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The client wanted her daughter on a black background with this dress,

and the hair was almost impossible to light. Any ideas for what I could

have done better, please. Lots of others of her in my portfolio.

Craig,

Before I begin let me make a suggestion. Within propriety, I would look at a portrait session with this age girl as I would with any other girl. You want to make her look slim, feminine and graceful. Of course, you want to make her look as good as you possibly can - that's the portrait photographer's job. (Unless there is some other specific purpose for the photograph).

Cute girl - Pretty dress (color and fabric - not so sure about style) - You have catch lights in her eyes (good). I would try for a more subtle smile (this one looks a bit forced) - Please whiten her teeth. Try some without a smile, too. They usually look better. People get tired pretty quickly of looking at a smiley picture. Nobody likes people who are happier than they are.

The skin tones on her chest and shoulders look pretty good. Her face has a reddish cast to it and her arms look a little yellowish? Her hands actually appear kind of red and sore looking (perhaps a case of dishpan hands and housemaid’s knee?)

Before we look at your pose, I don't think her eyes are as sharp as they should be...

Hint: Use a tripod whenever possible. Always set your camera on manual. Zoom-in and focus on the eye nearest the camera (in this case you can focus on either eye) - Zoom-out to frame your shot - Take your picture. I would never use auto focus unless you can't see your subject.

This girl is nicely slim. It doesn't matter. When you pose her straight on to the camera you are showing her widest parts - Shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip. If you put her at an angle she looks slimmer because you are showing less of her “side to side”. For all practical purposes she is slimmer. As an added bonus, she will look more feminine and graceful because of the slimness. This is also true, on a smaller scale, with the posing of her hands. Notice that her left hand looks slimmer than her right hand (which, by the way, is awkwardly posed on her hip). This is because her left hand is at more of an angle - there is less of it showing. Her right hand looks "fatter". With her fingers spread apart and twisted high up on her hip, it just doesn't look at all graceful. Watch the hand movements and positioning of graceful dancers on television. You will see how graceful poses can be achieved through careful observation.

It looks like your main light is coming in from the side (maybe up a little) and your fill light looks about the same intensity as your main. You want to have some shadows to give your picture depth (modeling). Her blue dress looks very nice against that black background and she is well separated from the background, except for her hair. Not a big problem. You need a backlight (a light shinning on her from pretty much directly behind her. If possible it would be nice to suspend it above her just out of camera range, but behind her and up high (behind her head if possible) will work fine. This will not only light up the edges of her hair and separated her from the background, but it will provide a nice rim light on her shoulders to separate those from the background, too.

Please notice that her right shoulder looks a little hunched up. Hand on her hip caused that. A standing pose is one of the most difficult to make look natural. The poor girl is standing there, not knowing what to do with her hands, her feet, her expression -- she is feeling awkward and not at all pretty. Notice that you almost cropped her at her knees. Never crop at a joint. It makes the subject look like an amputee. Just thought I would throw that in while I thought of it. Unless the subject wants a full length pose (maybe to show off her dress?), I would stick to her sitting on the floor, a chair, couch, whatever. Take a look at some standing poses that you like of models or seniors or anyone and "copy" the pose. When you are shooting a session, there is nothing wrong with having a few "samples" to look at for ideas of different poses. Why try to invent the wheel?

I don't like the "2009" on the photograph. It is not part of the photograph. It belongs on the mat.

I hope I have provided a couple of things worth thinking about. To me, portraiture is the most challenging and rewarding of all the areas of photography. Good luck with your future portraits. If I can ever be of help, please let me know.

Nice shot,

Mark