Heavenly Fairy

This is an image of my wife, who gets very nervous each time I pick

up my camera. We had just gotten out of bed when I grabed her and my

camera and headed for the door. I am very new to photography and she

had never modeled before. I am very very interested in becoming a

better photographer and gretly appreciate anyone taking the time to

review my photos

Heavenly, yes, Fairy, no :^).

Since she's in a pale, diaphanous dress, try to get her complete profile against the darker wood, and still have the light coming through the dress. If you can arrange the frame so that her dress is the lightest thing on the page, you'll be happy.

This is a nice beginning for you both. Do not let others convince you that her face must be in every photograph. She will be more inclined to participate if she can find some personal distance from the images. Good luck, be respectful, discrete, kind and have fun... t

Some very interesting comments. I think what bothers me most is the washed out sky. Do you think I could have still had the transparency of the dress and had her profiled against the wood?

thanks for the critique

Yes I do. If you and she shifted to the right, so that the building was in your field of view, but the angle you were shooting at remained the same, it would work nicely. You could even expose a little more, since the dress is not yet approaching white. The brightest part of her dress is where her foot lifted it to catch the light from above (just below her right hand). If she walks with both feet nearer the ground (not picking them up so high), you wouldn't have to worry about over exposuring the dress. I'm sure you are willing to try, yes?... t

i like your shot,Joe. it has a tender mood. I should continue shooting your wife, but let her time to wake up ;-)

Very good for one of your first images. I like the idea of it quite a bit. I do agree with a previous comment and what he said is absolutely correct (though we all do it from time to time) - You want to avoid anything else in the frame other than the main subject being white, light or bright. your eye has a tendency to go towards the brighest and lightest part of frame. Also when you have a good size bright portion - it throws your exposure off on darker objects - like the barn here. You did ok, it is recognizable and has some detail but is a bit dark - now she works fine because the gown is white. Like a previous comment also mentioned - some of the best photos are back shots or where the subject is not looking and if this makes your wife more comfortable - you should use that to your advantage. It can help you to produce images with mystery, which is good. Another thing that would have helped you here is a bit of fill flash, it would have given you more light and texture on your subject. One other recommendation is that you want to be careful when you catch a moment that you try to steer away from an object appearing that it is coming from the head of your subject. Please do not be discouraged, I am not trying to pick your picture apart. All in all I like it and think it is a great representation of great things to come from you. I have only been taking pics for about 2 years now and I have gotten most benefit from those who have given me constructive advice on how to improve and often will mention something I had not thought of before. Best of luck to you. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Karen I in no way take offense. Your comments are greatly appreciated. It's exactly what I am looking for. I want to thank everyone for taking time out of their busy lives to comment on my photos. I have already learned alot just from the few comments posted. Thank you all