Janet

Your honest comments and critique would be appreciated. Thanks.

Alan.

The colors are wonderful!

PDE

Alan,

Janet has a very nice expression. The composition, color saturation and contrast are excellent. The background is nicely out of focus and she is well separated from it.

Her make-up and manicure look quite nice and appropriate for this portrait, but a little more make-up might add a bit of youthfulness. 

It almost seems she is dressed for indoors. She could be working as a florist or seamstress. I think it is the glasses around her neck and what appears to be some kind of smock she has on. She just seems a little out of place in the forest or backyard. I'm not sure what she has on her wrist (a scrunchie for her hair?), but I would have her remove it.  

I realize she may be a bit older than 18, but I would soften her skin just a bit to smooth out the skin on her face, arm and hand -- just to make it appear a little more youthful. She is much too young for this to start to look like a character portrait.

She appears to be looking beyond the leaves and twigs in her hands. I would have her tilt her head down a little and look more directly at what she is holding. It just seems like the natural thing to do

Her hair looks a bit on the frizzy side, but if that is her natural 'style', I don't think I would want her to change it -- a least not just for the portrait.

Be careful of split profiles. You do not want the tip of her nose to come close to touching the far cheek line. You want to make sure the far eye is either completely showing or not showing at all. You do not want to have the bridge of her nose cut into her far eye.

It would be nice to have some catchlights to give her eyes a bit more life.

I think her face is just a tad on the pink side.

Nice shot,

Mark

I came to this one while checking the V500 tags.  (Gallery>search by photo tags)  Nice to see some new entries there.  Mark makes some very valid points on portrait photography but I part company with him on his appraisal of the colour saturation, specifically on her face.  (actually he did mention the pinkness there)  I had a difficult time getting a more  neutral rendition to her skin and I may not have got it right yet.  You judge!  How long have you had the V500 scanner?  Could it be that you are still getting used to it?  What software are you using to scan?  Best, LM.

Len:  Thanks for your comments.  I made a mistake on the tags.  I have the V600 not the V500.  On the other hand, my mistake got you to come over the critique the picture which I appreciate.  I too had trouble with the color.  I shot in Velvia 50 so the saturation was a little too much to cool off without effecting all the other colors.  I played with it more and I think I got it better if you'd like to comment and could emaiol it too you.  Anyway thanks again.  Alan

I think the general consensus of opinion would denounce Velvia 50 as a portrait film.   Probably how you ended up with some wonky  skin tones.  Try Sensia, or Astia next time or one of the professional portrait negative films such as Portra 160NC.  (no disappointing surprises with those films)  I have the V500 & have been most pleased with it for my 6x6 negs & slides.  It's not as good as my dedicated Minolta Scan Dual ll for 35mm though.  Quite noticeably inferior even when printing at 6"x9" but OK in a pinch or for web applications.  Best, LM.