Mother Watching over her Children

Beautiful shot - really well done - a great mood to the image-

Mark

Paul,

Very good focus. The overall lighting is very good. I like the use of the stairwell as your background. The pose is well done. Very nice profile. I really like her expression.

The lighting on her face is wonderful, but there are other areas (arm, hand, dress, foot) that are brighter than her face. This draws attention away from her face.

The composition makes the photograph very right heavy. Your subject should have more room in front of her than behind. This allows her to be facing into the picture, not out of it. You want to compositionally balance the left and right sides of the photograph. The compositional "rule" for this suggests that you position the tip of the subject's nose in the vertical center of the photograph.

I would not have cropped so close to her head, nor would I have cropped off part of her right foot. Your subject needs room to breath. She looks very squished on the top, bottom and the right side of your frame. Zoom out a bit and move her back to the wall or pan right a little.

Nice shot,

Mark

While I appreciate some of the comments above, I would disagree with them on certain points. Certainly what we normally expect is to have more room to the right, and while that might always work, it doesn't necessarily make for a better image. The tension that you have created by breaking that rule is a large part of what makes this successful to me. I want to know what it is that is drawing her attention off-camera. The image would be completely different in feel were she moved to the left. While it would still be a wonderful shot, it wouldn't focus the attention of the viewer in the same way - I sook at the photo and I am forced to ponder it. With her to the left, I would see a lovely portrait and move on. I also feel she is completely balanced by the staircase on the left. The strength of the light cascading down the steps and the arc of light on the wall balance her very well, and it's continuation on the treads at her feet complete the sense of motion started by the light at the top. The brightly lit heart pendant makes a wonderful focal point for not only our eyes, but also our minds, as it gives the viewer a hint as to what she may be thinking. While it is only an opinion, I think you got it just about right!

Mark

@ Mark Starr,

I agree with you that this photograph is interesting because we want to know what she is looking at. This brings up a problem that we almost always have to deal with when we try to critique a photograph. We are hardly even told the purpose of the photograph. Why was it taken and for whom it was taken. If it is taken to try to tell a story is very different than if it was taken to be given to a boyfriend, husband or parent. I sure would like to know from the photographer some of the background of the portrait. Sometimes the photographer is just experimenting or playing around. If I know this I can give a more informed critique.

I quite agree with Mark,

Mark

P.S. Good first name, Mark!

I look at these images that that come with no other written information as to their purpose as something that must stand by itself (or fall by itself!) Without input from the photographer, it is up to the viewer to critique it on its own merits and decide what it means to them personally. One thing I find on this site is that I quickly go by the images that don't make a personal connection with me. There are hundreds if not thousands of images of women sitting on stairs that I have probably seen but can't remember a thing about. As with this photo, I have no connection to the person - I don't know who she is or know anything about her, and yet it stopped me and held my attention enough to comment on and discuss with others. If a photographer can make me care about someone I don't know, I think he is really done something - moved from a snapshot to a portrait. This, to me, makes this image stronger than the thousand others I have seen. Heck,

he has even gotten two complete strangers discussing it over the internet! Thanks for the discussion, and have a great week-

Mark

You deserve high marks for your stimulating discussion ;)!

Seriously, I'd first like to thank you for your very interesting contributions. I have learnt from both of you. I just thought I'd give you some background on the image. This is a photograph of my wife watching our 4 kids playing with their cousin, she was aware but immune to the fact that I. was with my camera (as most photographers' better halves would be). What I saw was an atmosphere that my minds eye and finger registered before my brain recognised it. I was half aware that I was breaking a rule, I even cropped it tighter to the face in post processing because I suppose the whole dynamic is to bring the viewer, in some way out of the shot, to the mystery of what is producing the sentiment of the face. Our older kids are entering the twilight of their childhood years and they were all playing together with sand etc. so the shot has a very strong resonance for me personally. Again, thanks for your contributions. You make a great team! Mark my words!!!

Regards,

Paul

PS I'd love to get more Mark and Mark discussions or opinions of other shots!!!! ;)

Thanks for filling us in on the story behind her gaze. I am always amazed at how differently people look at a photo with just a few words attached to it. We all know that a good picture stands by itself, never needs explaining, is worth a thousand words... I think nothing could be further from the truth. I received a book of all of the best photographers from LIFE magazine - each had about 4 pages of thier best shots. The kicker was that the book was in Italian, and so the captions were readable and understandable for the most part if you took some time with them. What was interesting to me was that many images meant nothing without knowing what they were. Of course many were beautiful and moving without text, but by adding just a few words from the caption their meaning changed dramatically. In the case of the photo of your wife, a title can drastically change the meaning and the effect it has on the viewer. "Mother watching over children" gives real meaning to her expression, especially to someone like me who has seen their children grow and move away. I have seen gallery shows with the usual title and no text, where people walk up, read the title, glance at the work, and walk to the next. I have also seen shows with brief explanations below where people stop and discuss the image in detail with their friends for quite some time, and both shows have first-rate images. I am not saying you should always have explanations, but just pointing out how some titles or text can add real power to images such as yours.

Your reactions to taking this photo were certainly spot-on. There is real pathos in her expression reinforced by the mood of the scene, which is what drew both of to comment on it. Keep up the great work!

Mark

I've just changed the title and you're absolutely right! It's something I never bothered about before, in fact I always found it a bit of a necessary evil, but in the case of shots like this I see what you mean. Thanks to you both for some very interesting pointers.

Warm regards,

Paul