Proof of the Existence of God

--Lannie

Thank you, Aungshita.

--Lannie

Outstanding portrait and so well lit, wishing you all of the best.

Thank you, Rashed.

--Lannie

An expressive portrait with perfect tonality. Best regards.

The image and the woman are simply lovely.

deb

Landrum,

I did click on the picture, but nothing happened differently than clicking on any of the other pictures. I don't see your proof of the existence of God. Maybe you were just kidding? Oh well, I will just critique your photograph and look elsewhere later for proofs of God.

She is a pretty girl with a nice smile. She has good eye contact with the camera (viewer). The catch lights help give life to her eyes. The lighting is very good. Her make-up looks good. The eyeliner under her eyes frames them and helps to make them stand out.

Her eyes do not look in critical focus. They could be sharper. I would like to see a little more light on them. They are a bit dark. The whites of her eyes really could be whiter.

The background is nicely out of focus, but the yellow thing in the background (someone's jacket?) draws attention away from your subject.

Your composition is very good, but you could crop just a tad off the right side. You want to compositionally balance the left and right sides of the photograph. The compositional "rule" for this suggests that you position the tip of the subject's nose in the vertical center of the photograph.

It would be good to soften the dark circles under her eyes and retouch any imperfections on her skin.

Her skin tone is quite nice, but she has some reddish areas under her nose, on her left cheek and on her upper chest.

Her striped shirt is very distracting. 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.

Do not pose your subject straight on to the camera. This is not a very feminine pose. Showing your subject’s widest areas (shoulder to shoulder or hip to hip) makes those areas appear wide. Your subject will appear thinner and more feminine, graceful and elegant if turned at an angle to the camera. The lines you see from an angle have more apparent motion, interest and grace. You usually do not want to have your subject turned 90 degrees to the camera. This can make the head look unsupported. It usually looks best to angle your subject somewhere around 45 degrees.

Notice the neckline of her top. The viewer's eyes will go to the “V” formed by the sides of the neckline and follow it down and out of the photograph because there is nothing there to stop them. You should try to crop below where the “V” of the neckline comes together so that the viewer's eyes have a place to stop. The same is true of her necklace.

Nice shot,

Mark

That is NOT proof of the existence of God, unless He wishes only His image to be perfect, and others to have green skin tone and lack sharp focus.

This image, OTOH, is certain proof that the Designer is at work...

This was shot at an African-American college, Les.  Not everyone is a Caucasian melanin-deprived mutant who is going to show up on the print/web in some shade of pink. 

There is no inductive proof, in any case, Les.  No seriously philosophizing here. . . .

Mark, it was a candid shot made on a walk-through of a crowded room.  I was happy to get it as it is. 

I don't agree with all of your compositional rules, and I refuse to submit to Olan Mills criteria of greatness.

--Lannie

The focus may not be perfect but this is a very nice portrait just as it is. Regards.

Thanks, Allen.  The focal plane seems to have been about five to six inches behind her eyes, so that at this aperture they are not quite within the "circle of confusion" that we call "in focus."

--Lannie

I think god is everywhere. This is a nice picture of a good looking woman. good luck.

Lannie: Nicely done, candids are tough to get perfect!  Sometimes the purists just don't see the real story in a photo. Tom

Thanks, Tom.

--Lannie