Shelly with Cone

Not sure about this ,but see what you think . Any comments are welcome

. Bill

William,

I'm not quite sure what the this is, but I will comment on what the this might be.

Shelly is a pretty girl. Her skin tone, the lighting, contrast, color saturation, catchlights and specular highlights on her lips are all very good. She also has very good eye contact with the camera (viewer) and a pleasant expression. Her hair looks very nice and the highlights are good. They help to separate her hair from the nicely neutral background.

It is near Halloween, so I guess the orangey looking fingernail, lipstick and eyeshadow color is OK. I am not a fan of this color (except for pumpkins, of course). It may not be a true orange, but it is close enough. I hope she didn't buy this color just for the photograph. If she did, I think you owe her, big time! Her eye make-up (sans eyeshadow) looks very good. The eyeliner under he eyes really helps to make her eyes stand out.

I am not sure of the significance of the road cone. Perhaps she will be Miss July for your local road commission's calender? 

The composition is quite good, but I would give her a little more room on the top and on the bottom -- especially the bottom. She looks a little squashed in. 

It is sort of interesting how the colors of the cone, the front panel or her dress, lipstick, eyeshadow, hair adornment and her fingernail polish all match so well. Too bad that in a portrait you don't want anything to draw the viewer's eyes (attention) away from your subject's face. 

Having her lean in at the waist and slump her shoulders makes her posture look quite poor. Have her sit up straight with her shoulders back and her chest out.

I am afraid her hands positioned on top or each other looks a little coney ... oops, I mean corny. You usually do not want to place one hand resting on top of the other. It looks unnatural -- posed.

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. As a rule it looks best to angle your subject somewhere around 45 degrees to the camera.

Nice shot,

Mark

Beautiful work with very nice colours and lighting, William!

Thanks Mark , you have made some salient points . You never know , but one day I may take a portrait that ticks all the boxes ! I wonder if I would get a comment from you then ! Bill

Thanks Ruud . Your kind words have helped restore my ego ! Bill

Too much interesting work, William! Very clever composition!

Her colors match perfectly, this cone is a better size..if it were a hat...but otherwise I like the composition as being an original and different look altogether.  well done Bill.