Jiji.

This is one of my first attempts at shooting black and white and

probably my 5th roll of film through a fully manual camera. Please

tell me what you think of the composition, lighting, etc.

composition and lighting seem fine to me. But it really bothers me that the material goes into her lower face. Very distracting in a portrait. Congratulations on using a manual camera. Kevin

To me this picture was like reading a sentance out of context. It was as if somebody said, "hey dude...read this", and I did but I didn't get it.

 

So I give the composition low marks, but I give the lighting, the detail, the focus, and the dof high marks.

 

I think you really have the hang of the operating your camera.

You have a good subject, bad pose, bad composition. You missed the focus and failed to crop the space above her head. So many possibilities with this photo, I hope you do more. The subject is lost in the plaid. Do more.