j

Too bad that 17 people had the time to rate, but not a soul took the time to add a comment !?

Not sure exactly why...but the somewhat head-forward pose works well for me. Love the shallow DOF, which seems to be accentuated nicely by the pose. (probably why I like it so much) Her lips, tip of her nose are sharp & in focus...and then...that lovely fade. Wonderful, well- positioned catchlights in her eyes.

The picture is technically beyond sound...but perhaps of equal or greater importance to the success of the picture is the fact that your model is so wonderfully engaged with the camera. She seems far beyond relaxed & enjoying her time before the camera... to the degree that it's as though she is devouring the experience. Your model is obviously photogenic, & perhaps she has experience behind the camera. Perhaps she has little or no experience...& the photographer guided her and brought out her best effort. All I can say is that I doubt that such a great photograph just happened by accident. It comes across as a completely collaborative effort between the two of you...and for me, that's what a great portrait is all about!

Regards,

John

John, thanks a lot for your comment. This young girl (14) is not used to the camera and I didn't know her before. But we managed to 'connect' and she  giftrd me with her confidence and openess.

Indeed I'm more interested in the 'expression' of the people I photograph than in 'technique'. I found a quote of Andreas Feiniger which reassumes pretty good what I want to achieve:

Die Tatsache, dass eine - im konventionellen Sinn - technisch fehlerhafte Fotografie gefühlsmäßig wirksamer sein kann als ein technisch fehlerloses Bild, wird auf jene schockierend wirken, die naiv genug sind zu glauben,
dass technische Perfektion den wahren Wert eines Fotos ausmacht.

The fact that a - in a conventional sense - technically "bad" photograph
can be emotionally more effective than a technically flawless image
may appear shocking to those who are naive enough to believe that technical perfection is the true value of a photo.

Andreas Feininger