637 (kf flower vase)

Give this picture at least 5 or 10 seconds and then tell me what you

think. Thanks.

Doug,

637 is a very pretty girl. You have focused well on her eyes. She has excellent skin tone. Her make-up is beautifully applied. She has good eye contact with the camera (viewer). The contrast and color saturation looks very good. The background is nicely neutral and she is well separated from it. I love the specular highlights on her lips. The lighting is very good and she has very nice catch lights. The shadow area on the side of her face helps to create a good feeling of depth within your photograph. Because you have such a nice close shot of her face, it doesn't bother me that you have her posed straight on to the camera.

Her mascara looks very nice on her right eye, but it looks likes she may have touched her eyelashes before the shot on her left eye. They are not lined up well.

Everything in this portrait seems to try to be so perfect looking that it surprises me that one side of her collar is below the other side. It just doesn't fit with the rest of the portrait.

The reflective thing on her right and the large bright flowers draw the viewer's attention away from your subject's face. I would remove them. Perhaps the thing so close to her face is causing her expression?

Her expression is pleasant, but somewhat distant. I don't feel a good connection with the viewer. Slightly parted lips usually give a rather sensual feel to a female portrait, but this doesn't work for me with this portrait. Maybe, it is just me, but she looks more like the "girl next door" trying to look sensual.

Your left and right compositional balance is excellent, but I do find this portrait quite bottom heavy. You have cropped close enough on the bottom to warrant cropping into her hair on top to better balance the image. Of course, you could just add to the bottom to achieve the same compositional balance as cropping into her hair.

Your lighting is very nice, but you might consider raising your main light up just a tad and moving it to your right. This would move her catch lights from her pupils to her irises. It would also move the shadow from her nose allowing it to connect with the shadow on the side of her face -- just touching the side of her mouth. You might like this lighting as well as, or even better than, what you have. It's just a viable option.

Your advertising is not part of the photograph. Your name could be properly placed on the mat. The advertising would be better placed on the back of your photograph.

Nice shot,

Mark

Hey Mark, thanks for your many thoughts. The collar bothers me, too. I think I should have taped it up somehow, like with some stiff paper. It was a pretty shirt, though. I really liked it. The reflective thing on her right is the flower vase. I thought the contour of the vase, and that of her beautiful jaw were nice together, although they're not lined up so well in this shot as in others. I like how you see her as a girl next door. She's a very sweet human being. Not sure what you mean about cropping and balance because you say it's bottom heavy, and then you suggest adding more to the bottom for balance. At any rate, I'm glad you see that the focus was her exquisite face, which I find completely mesmerizing. Not sure about the catchlight in the iris, either. I'll have to check that out. I've always liked them in the pupil. The logo is on jpgs only, or promotional cards, never on quality finished prints.--Doug