State of Grace

I'm not sure I know which I like best.  They are both very powerful.

--Lannie

Best regards

PDE

You have a very interesting subject here. I would just make a couple of comments. Your depth of field is so shallow both eyes are not sharp. In fact the closest eye is not sharp. I suspect the camera probably focused on something other than the eyes.If that is the effect you wanted you succeeded, but most portraits seem to cause less 'distress' to the viewer if the eyes are sharp. This subject has a really interesting face. You have a great subject to work with here... thanks for posting.

I very much agree with Jack's assessment. She has a great look and great engagement with the camera/viewer/photographer. The shape of her face is great and most interesting. The fact that her mouth protrudes a it is highlighted by the fact the the focusing seems pinpointed to her nose and mouth area. I don't mind soft eyes compared to a lot of the too sharp eyes we often see but there's a difference in emotional and feel and visual state between eyes being out of focus and eyes being soft. Because her nose in more in focus, her eyes feel off rather than soft. Very good lighting to work with and nice, elegant skin tone, very real and very much alive.

I wanted to add that I prefer this to the other portrait of Grace. I find her expression here more engaging and perhaps a little too much playing to the camera in the other one. Also, the background furniture and placement of the lighted lamp compositionally don't work for me that well in the other one. In this one, the background lighting feels very harmonious and adds a lot to the texture of the whole picture. The single yellow spot, echoed by the softer pink light just behind her head, work really well here to give this photo a kind of visual energy that supports the portrait.

Pierre - My mother and I thank you. best, j

Jack - Thanks for your gentle criticism. I know that portraits like you describe seem better to most people, and this preference is rather counterintuitively one of many reasons why that kind of portrait seems sterile and lifeless to me. More interestingly, perhaps, I find it odd that there can be such a strong notion of the right way to do something that you think this was accidental. Your way is far easier, in my experience, but it would have been a picture of trees instead of a forest, so to speak. Finally, the Coup de Grace - she would certainly prefer it even blurrier than it is! best, j

Fred - Thanks for both of your kind comments. I think what I said above about missing the forest for the trees applies. I believe I am good at many things photographic, but I agree that portraiture probably isn't one of them. I do not think sharper is the answer, however, and as I wrote above, she certainly would not think so either. I would say that the Sunday-Supplement look that everyone seems to go for now is the worst thing to happen to portraiture, ever. It's much more about the photographer than the subject, a trap I would tentatively suggest your comments fall into. I do apprehend and appreciate that your comments make clear that you are discussing personal preferences and not universal rules. I attached a detail in case you are curious. Her nose really isn't in focus either, just higher contrast. I love this lens for the way it does this, by the way. best, j - - - P.S.: I agree with you totally about the other, similar shot.

A couple of things. First, thanks for your clear response. I, like you, am always very pleased when a subject of one of my portraits is happy with one that I've made. But, when it comes to photographic critique, I'm much more likely to listen carefully and try to absorb what a trusted and honest fellow photographer says than what the person sitting for me has to say. I find that, generally speaking, the portraits the subject likes are not the same ones that I value. so their opinion may matter in terms of what photo I give them and what they want hanging on their wall or representing them, it will matter a lot in terms of giving people what they want but not necessarily in terms of my own creative and expressive growth. What people choose for themselves, I have found, is quite often not what I consider the portrait most full of personality, character, content, or photographic expressiveness or technique, etc. This is not meant to take anything away from what Grace or any of my own sitters feel about their portraits. Their opinion counts the most in terms of what they want for themselves, but not necessarily in terms of my own takeaway as the photographer.

As far as this:

It doesn't inspire me to continue an online relationship with you or to comment further on your work which is unfortunate, because your work is of value, as I've said. I never expect a photographer to have to agree with my critique, never expect they will learn from it or even care about it. But it is offered genuinely. Please have the decency to show some respect for this fellow photographer. We get so few comments on our work here. I would hope, when we do get comments, we could accept them with a little more grace than to characterize others' opinions as "the worst thing to happen to portraiture", as also self-centered, and as a typical "trap" people fall into it. Can't it just be a difference of opinion, coming from a photographer every bit as in tune with individually-expressive portraiture and photography as yourself, one who's not trapped but simply trying to convey an honest reaction and reach out to you as a peer?

I now bid you a fond farewell.

You asked for a critique, which I tried to do with honesty and grace. 

You don't have to defend your photograph to me at all... it's your photo.

Neither would I expect you to take my comments personally.

I'm not interested in debating what you or I consider best... you asked for a critique and I gave it... frankly not expecting any response from you at all.

When I ask for a critique I expect honest and constructive comments, realizing they convey the ideas of the individual making the critique and nothing else.

That was the spirit in which my comments were made.

Good luck in your photography.

actually sorry.

i am just so tired of comments that tell me what a good picture is instead of what the person likes or dislikes. i am tired of people giving instructions as to how they would do something as if i should do it that way too.

to the best of my knowledge, i do not do that. i try not to present myself as the master and the other as the student. i honestly feel that my comments were measured, yours disrespectful. thank you for them, though. be well. jamie