granddaughter

how u like to have grand like this

taken with 24 tom 70mm at about 50mm f2.8

attempt tp get tach sharp

attempt to get rule of 3rds

convert to b/w

anny comments please

I would like to see more contrast to this photo, but your model is intensely beautiful. She has stunning looks.

I love the lighting in this photo. Soft and full from all angles. And the background is nice without taking anything away from the subject. You're lucky to have such a cooperative granddaughter, maybe my granddaughter will let me do some shots of her. Congratulations on a very well executed photo shoot. 

I think did a really good job at getting the exposure just right, not easy with all that white. But I do agree, cranking up the contrast just a bit seems like a good idea. Just make sure you don't go to far and start loosing detail. You seem to have a lot of luck with finding very photogenic subjects for your portraits. Just on a side note, with the majority of this image being quite bright and her face being darker than the rest of it, this image would lend it self to something like this example.

This looks like an auto exposure from the camera.  The camera wants to see everything at 18% reflectance---but your model and the shirt she is wearing reflect more than that---no problem for the camera because the camera will make it 18% gray anyway unless you tell it not to.  I adjusted your levels in photoshop with the default white and black points that I have set to RGB 240 for the white and 20 for the black.  I added a slight S curve in the curves adjustment to boost the contrast slightly.

Lee,

She is a very pretty girl. John did improve your contrast, but I would like to see some detail in her dark hair. There are a couple other things you could do that might improve the shot a tad.

The lighting is quite flat. Shadows can add interest and help to create a nice illusion of depth within your image.

The background is somewhat plain, but would be even less noticeable if you would either move your subject farther away from the background or use a shallower depth of field. A more out-of-focus background would make your subject stand out even more. The horizontal lines in the background should actually be horizontal. Don't have them slant. Remove the little triangle of black in the lower right corner.

The model style pose is fine, but an armpit is usually not the most photogenic part of a girl's body. I would have her turn a bit so that her body is more at an angle to the camera.  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. Generally, it looks best to angle your subject somewhere around 45 degrees. Don't clip off your subject's elbow on the bottom. Give it a little breathing room or crop into it like you mean it.

You have some reflections in her eyes, but a good strong catchlight on the upper part of the iris in each eye helps to add life to your portrait and draws the viewer in to your model.

The "rule of thirds" often works well to help you decide where to place the main subject within your composition. It can work for a portrait if you have a reason to place her off center. There may be something within the frame that adds interest or is important to the subject that balances her off-center placement. In this case there is nothing to warrant it. You have a relatively plain background. 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. By positioning the tip of her nose in the vertical center of the photograph you not only have her facing into the picture, but you also have good left and right compositional balance. The tip of her nose doesn't have to be exactly centered, but this gives you a good starting point from which to subtly adjust your composition to make it visually balanced. This little rule almost always works well.

Because your subject is vertical, a vertical format would probably work best for this shot. That is why you mostly see vertical formats used for standing or sitting portraits. You could easily crop off the left side of the image and make a much more balanced composition.

Her eyes are in good focus. She has good eye contact with the camera (viewer). Her make-up is well applied. The eyeliner under her eyes helps to frame them and helps to make her eyes stand out.  I like her expression. The parted lips helps to give her a somewhat sensual look -- very nice.

Good shot,

Mark