Z

I am a newbie with the Mamiya and have a hard time evaluating some

shots. Comments sought. Thanks !

J D,

Lots of letters here! I'm going to get real picky with this portrait because you are new and asked for a critique. Just pick and choose what you think is important for you at this time. Of course its really hard to take a terrible photograph of a beautiful young girl.

Be careful of your focus. I think her eyes could be a little sharper.

Z is a very pretty girl with a very nice smile. Her overall skin tone is not bad. The contrast is very good. You have nice detail in your whites and blacks -- nice exposure.

It appears that your main light is pretty much above her. Her eyes and mouth have a lot of shadow in them. That causes a problem with nice white teeth and the whites of her eyes. She should have more light on her face.

It looks like she is looking just to the right of the camera. 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.

You have used your camera's flash as your fill light. This will give you those tiny pointy looking little catch lights just above the center of her eyes. The ideal position for catch lights is close to the 10 or 2 o'clock position on her irises. To achieve this your main light should be above, in front and to the side of your subject. You want to have one catch light in each eye. Judicious use of shadows can make your photograph much more interesting and create a very nice illusion of depth within your photograph. Notice that the highlights on her nose are too bright. You have lost all detail in them.

Avoid bright colors and bold patterns in clothing. In a portrait the subject’s face is what is most important and nothing should draw the viewer’s attention away from the face. My eyes go right to her checkered shirt which, by the way, is bunched up on her chest. She shouldn't look messy.

Her hands are a little lighter than her face. This draws attention away from her face.

Your depth of field is so narrow that her shoulder and her hands are out of focus. I don't see a good reason to have any of her out of focus. An out of focus background is very nice and focuses attention on your subject. Parts of your subject out of focus will draw attention away from what is in focus. It is difficult to go wrong with having the entire subject in focus.

The background is out of focus, but there are a variety of shapes, lines and light and dark areas in it. This again draws attention away from your subject. She also has some lines going into her head. Any writing in the photograph (even if it is out of focus) will draw the viewer's attention. It is best to have no writing or symbols or logos of any kind in a portrait -- including t-shirts.

Be careful of foreshortening. Watch for anything closer to the camera than the body. If nearer the camera than her body her feet, knees, hands, elbows and shoulders will look out of proportion to the rest of the body -- larger than normal -- foreshortened.

You usually do not want to have your subject's hands together or on top of each other. This will make that area look quite large -- like a lump. The sides of the hands are slim, feminine and graceful -- unlike the tops or palms of the hands.

I would crop a little off the top to better compositionally balance the top and bottom of the photograph. You want to compositionally balance the left and right sides of the photograph, too. The compositional "rule" for this suggests that you position the tip of the subject's nose in the vertical center of the photograph. You will want to crop a little off the right side.

Watch the shadow from her hair falling across her left eye. It is easier to not have to deal with a shadow line across her eye.

I know she is relatively young, but I would get rid of the circles under her eyes and have her apply a little more make-up. Some eyeliner under her eyes would help make her eyes more dominant.

I hope I gave you some things to think about.

Nice shot,

Mark

Mark,

Thanks very much. I am very glad to have received all these suggestions. Very useful indeed.

PS: this happened more of a random portrait, no control over light or no flash... nevertheless I agree one should be careful with the points you raised. I am learning. Thanks.