Ashley

Thanks for looking - ANY comments appreciated and for those who rate

this a 2 or 3 please enlighten us as to why with your superior knowledge.

Hi Bob,

I'm not saying I have any superior knowledge - I'm a humble image taker, by NO MEANS, a pro!

Ashley is missing a hand, or at least, some finger tips - she deserves them back!

And I see a distraction - it's the windows at the top. Perhaps if Ashley could just drop down a little, so that the whole background is the same shade, it would work better for me.

I think the focau may be a litle far back too - her tattoo on her left wrist seems more in focus than her face, and this plane seems to progress behind her head to the wood grain in the door just behind her head too.

Please - let me know what you think of my comments - I'm not trying to upset you!

best regards

Shaun

Thanks for the input you cant upset me. I appreciate any comments good or bad. The cut off hand doesnt seem important to me but I am with you on the focus plane. I think what happend was I did not have the the focus locked and must have hit the directional button to the right side of the frame. Thanks for your time Shaun!

My comment refers to the jackasses that vote and rate a decent photo with a 2 or a 3 then can't say why they dislike it - no offense intended.

Bob,

I don't give ratings, but I do give critiques, now and then.

The vertical lines are quite vertical -- that is good. You have very good color saturation. The contrast is good. The purples and the rest of the colors go well together.

Her skin tone is a little on the red side. Notice that her fingers are lighter than her face. I would want her face lighter so that the viewer's attention is drawn to her face. Her blouse is a nice dark neutral color, but the lavender of the door is quite intense and draws my attention away from her face. There are bright white areas on the iron door that draw attention and should be removed.

The focus on her eyes could be a little better. I would consider a little softening to smooth out her complexion. Be careful of the hairs flying around her face.

I am not sold on her expression for a portrait. It does not enhance her looks. She has way too much head room and I would not crop into her left hand. The corner of white "paper" in the left window should not be showing.

Her eye make-up is not too bad, but she must be much more careful of her lipstick (notice her lower lip). Her eyebrows not not particularly done well.

The angle of her right arm is very good, but avoid having the flat of the hand towards the camera. The edge (side) of the hand towards the camera is thinning, feminine and graceful.

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.

The lighting is a bit flat. You want the main light to come from above, in front and to her side. Ashley should have catch lights to give life to her eyes. The ideal location for the catch lights would be at about the 10 or 2 o'clock position on her irises. Judicious use of shadows on her face can help create interest and the illusion of depth within your photograph.

If not making eye contact with the camera (viewer), the eyes should follow the line of the nose. It is natural to look where your head is pointing. If looking off to the side you should show what she is looking at or provide a reason that she is not looking where her head is pointing.

Eyes generally look better with some of the whites of the eyes showing on each side of the irises. Eyes with the whites of the eyes all on one side look unbalanced and rather strange and strained.

Nice shot,

Mark