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This whole collection is just beautiful - soft and gently done.

Thank you Julian!

Melissa,

Chelsi is a very pretty girl with a nice smile. This is a very nicely done senior portrait. You have focused well on her eyes which have good catchlights. She has good eye contact with the camera (viewer). Her skin tone is wonderful and her hair style works very well for her. The highlights in her hair look very nice. Her attire is very appropriate for this setting. The color saturation and contrast are excellent. The exposure appears to be spot on. The top and bottom compositional balance is very good. I like the butterfly (Hollywood/Paramount) lighting. The background is nicely out of focus and she is well separated from it. The muted colors of the leaves go very well with her skin tone and natural looking make-up.

While her make-up looks very nice, a little more eyeliner under her eyes would have framed them and helped to make them stand out even better.

It would have been nice to have her turn at a bit of an angle to the camera rather than posing straight on to the camera. This would have helped make her body appear a little thinner and more feminine, graceful and elegant.

I find the right side of the left and right compositional balance to be very overpowering.  Half of the photograph is taken up with out of focus leaves. This actually makes dual subjects for your photograph -- the large clump of out of focus leaves and Chelsi. You want to make Chelsi the main subject. While an out of focus background will draw attention to your subject, an out of focus foreground, especially a large one, will usually draw attention away from your subject.

The band across the photograph draws attention away from Chelsi. The name of your business (MELISSA PAPAJ PHOTOGRAPHY) is an advertisement for you. Your name and the date, if you wish, could be appropriately placed on a mat surrounding your photograph. Any advertising would be better placed on the back of the photograph.

Nice shot,

Mark