portraits S.3

She's gorgeous, and you've lit her well except for the camera-left side of her face, which could use a BIT of fill.

Andrey,

S. is a very pretty girl. You have focused well on her eye and she has good eye contact with the camera (viewer). Her expression is pleasant. It doesn't exactly draw me in, but it is pleasant. You have positioned her face very well within the frame. Her make-up looks good, but her lips look a little dry. Side lighting tends to make them look that way. The background is nicely neutral and she is well separated from it. I like the subtly lit background behind her shadow side to help separate her from it -- well done.

She has a catchlight in her left eye, but there is a lot of shadow in and around that eye. The catchlight could be brighter.

Her skin tone is awfully warm. Perhaps too much yellow/orange in it.

I don't mind split lighting, but I would want more light in the lit eye. It looks odd to have so much of her body showing with split lighting in what appears to be a studio setting. It would make more sense out on the street lit by a streetlight than in a studio.

It would be good to have her pull her top down to get rid of the wrinkles at her tummy.

Do not pose your subject straight on to the camera. This is not a very feminine pose. Showing your subject’s widest areas (shoulder to shoulder or hip to hip) makes those areas appear wide. Your subject will appear thinner and more feminine, graceful and elegant if turned at an angle to the camera. The lines you see from an angle have more apparent motion, interest and grace. You usually do not want to have your subject turned 90 degrees to the camera. This can make the head look unsupported. As a rule it looks best to angle your subject somewhere around 45 degrees.

Nice shot,

Mark

I too started out to say that the face needed fill - in fact the entire camera/left side of the figure.  But upon further reflection, I think perhaps that contrast is much of what this image is saying to us.  This is not a studio portrait but a strange woman stepping into the light to give us a message.  It is much more dramatic than a simple portrait.

The problem is you give us no clue by naming it.  You just give it the number S.3.  Even though a picture is proverbially giving us a thousand words, the title is usually not included in the content.  That title is the clue to our understanding the photographer's intent and the image's import.  Imagine how different our reactions will be if it is titled "Lost Love Found in the Cave" vs. "Just Before She Brought Out the Gun!"

Jerry

Beautiful work. Congratulations.