Beth and Bailey

My first submission. Am new to photography (couple months). This is

one of my better shots so far (IMO). The photo was taken mid-

afternoon, hand-held. If memory serves me correctly, the settings

were 1/125, f8. All comments, good, bad, or ugly will be appreciated.

I think you are off to a wonderful start; you have an eye for beauty. The light metering is good for the composition, but with matrix / average metering you might have avoided the blown out lights on the right hand side by recomposing a little to the right and cutting out some of the left hand side of the photo, which doesn't really contribute anything to the photo, if you think about it. Re-cropping isn't the answer, because of the blown highlights. As a beginner myself, the most difficult thing I have found in photography is the art of composition. This is something which takes time and practice and lots and lots of film. A simple rule to get on the right track is the law of thirds, which roughly states that the most pleasing composition for our human brains is to locate the point of focus in one of the thirds of the photo; i.e. if you divide the photo into thirds horizontally and vertically, where the lines cross generally make good points to locate the point of focus of the image. In this photograph, as with so many people pics, the point of focus to me is the woman's eyes. You have done a great job technically of focusing on her eyes, which is important, but the composition isn't pleasing because it is located a bit too off the frame.

This is a picture you should be proud of and certainly should inspire you to keep shooting :)

Happiness,

eisbaer

Its a nice shot. For critique sake, I think you should have shot at an angle that revealed more face (of both). A slight pop of fill flash could have lessened the range between the back of her arm (over exposed) and the spaniel's face (black and blocked up). It was a good first shot. Next time, try getting three or four, each with a different angle or exposure solution.

I agree with the observation above. Additionally, I would tilted the camera up a bit or moved back a step to get more of the pretty girl's face; the lowest section of the picture is unnecessary. Secondly, surely the dog's face is not as flat as it looks in this shot!