Natalia 2

I'm not too wild about the choice of background.  It's a little distracting and takes away from the model.  I like your other photo of Natalia much better.

Thomas,

Natalia is a very pretty girl. She has good eye contact with the camera (viewer) and a very nice smile. You have angled her to the camera very well. I like the way she is holding the hem of her skirt (culotte?). It is a cute and demure looking touch. I love the color and style of her hair. Draping her hair over her breasts really accentuates her very nice figure. She has very good skin tone. The contrast is very good as is your color saturation. The color of Natalia's outfit and accessories and her lipstick and fingernail polish are very well coordinated.

You have focused quite well on Natalia, but I don't think her eyes are in critical focus. They could be a little sharper.

The lighting looks very nice, but I would like to see a little more light on her eyes. The look too dark. There are catch lights, but they are very dim. More light and more pronounced catch lights would give her eyes more life.

While the background is somewhat out of focus, it does have a variety of shapes, angles and tones that draw the viewer's attention away from Natalia. It really is quite busy looking. I can understand why you chose to use a horizontal format with a vertical subject. This background is very interesting and you have balanced the horizontal composition very well. I wouldn't say the background works very well with Natalia. One reason to include a background in a portrait is to establish a relationship between the subject and the background. The idea is to take the likeness of the subject to a more meaningful pictorial expression of the subject. It adds completeness to the picture -- it tells a story. Everything in the picture should coordinate with everything else. Everything that is in the portrait should be there for a reason and should help tell the story of the subject. You should ask yourself if the background goes well with the subject, her outfit and any other props.  Is she relating and reacting to the background or setting in a meaningful and natural manner? Does she seem relaxed and comfortable in this location? In other words, does this background make sense? You might consider a vertical format using the stone wall as your background. I would position Natalia further away from the background so that it is so far out of focus that it is a nice blur of grays. 

I think her outfit looks very good on her, but you should 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.

Your subject should have more room in front of her than behind. This allows her to be facing into the picture, not out of it. If you wanted to keep your horizontal format, you would just turn Natalia so that she is facing the other direction.

Nice shot,

Mark

hiciste una escogencia muy acertada con la modelo, ya que tiene un talento natural para posar y sonreir. La composición que elegiste es interesante, indudablemente podrías resaltar aun más la modelo ya que es el centro de la atención.  Buen trabajo..!

Ricardo