ISABELLA - ENLARGE PRESS F11-

Hernest,

Isabella is a pretty girl. I like the soft lighting -- especially the lighting coming from above. The highlights on her hair and shoulders help to separate her from the background. Her skin tone is very good (a tad overly reddish on her legs, though). The focus on her eyes is excellent. She has very good eye contact with the camera (viewer). The background is nicely neutral and out of focus. She is well separated from the background.

I realize that many girls use minimal make-up at the beach or pool. She has very nicely applied mascara, but little eyeliner under her eyes would help frame them and make them stand out even better. Just a little lipgloss would be nice, too.

The composition is quite good, but the crop at the bottom is a little close to her wrists. You don't want to crop at a joint. 

Her bright earring really stands out against her dark hair. I would tone that down a bit. It just draws too much attention.

There is something white, in the vertical center, at the bottom of the frame -- between her left forearm and left thigh. That should be removed.

You have accentuated her breasts by having her squeeze their sides with her upper arms. Perhaps this is a bit too obvious to look at all natural. It doesn't make her look very sophisticated or refined to say the least. It also makes her arms look quite odd (bent in at an odd angle, at her elbows).

One catchlight per eye would be better. She also has some strange dark circles in her eyes. They almost look like black catchlights? I'm not sure what caused them. There are some reddish circles under her eyes that should be lightened. You could soften her complexion a smidgen. It is so sharp that every little bump shows.

The is not a very complementary pose. It is usually not a good idea to pose your subject facing straight on to, or away from, 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. Generally, it looks best to angle your subject somewhere around 45 degrees.

Your depth of field is so narrow that only her face and the front of her hair is in sharp focus. Her body is distinctly out of focus. An out of focus background looks very good and draws attention to your subject. Parts of your subject out of focus draws attention away from your subject. The more of you subject that is out of focus the more the viewer is drawn away from what is in focus. I find this especially true with a portrait.

It is quite appropriate to place your name and the date the photograph was made, if you wish, on a mat surrounding your photograph. You don't want anything in your photograph that will draw attention away from your subject.

Nice shot,

Mark

I agree with what Mark said about the out of focus hip that competes with the her face.  At first, I didn't know why I kept trying to focus on the blur part where the photographer obviously isolates the focus area as the focal point.  Other than this, the composition has the air of casualness to it, fitting the unpretentious expression :)