portraits Elle

Ken,

Elle is a beautiful girl and I like her expression. It is an interesting smile. She has wonderful hair. You have focused well on her eyes and Elle's skin tone is very good.

The composition is quite good, but you could place her more in the center (tip of the nose in vertical center). She has good headroom, but you could take a tad off the bottom for a better top and bottom compositional balance. The lighting is good. A backlight could have separated her more from the background.

She is wearing a very pretty top, but it is a bit busy. My eyes keep going to her top rather than staying on her face.

If not making eye contact with the camera (viewer), the eyes should follow the line of the nose. It is natural to look where your head is pointing. If looking off to the side you should show what she is looking at or provide a reason that she is not looking where her head is pointing. 

Be aware of how her mascara looks when you photograph her. Make sure it is even and her lashes are nicely separated.

I am thinking you could have angled her even more away from the camera, but with the way the main light is placed it still looks good.

Nice shot,

Mark

Ken,

I thought I would show a different crop and I lightened the shadows a tad so that she would be better separated from the background. I decided to submit this after it was too late to add it to my critique. Your version is very nice.

Mark