Jacqueline 7102

Doug...  Not a single solitary thing different!  A beautiful young lady and a fine portrait... Mike

Doug,

Jacqueline is a very pretty girl. You have focused well on her eyes. She has very good eye contact with the camera (viewer). Her expression is very pleasant, but her smile does look a little forced. Her skin tone is very good. The soft lighting is very nice and works well with the warm colors throughout the photograph.  The backlighting works well as an accent and to help separate her from the background. The far background is nicely darker than Jacqueline and out of focus. The setting is perfect for her clothing. Your composition is good. The contrast and color saturation is very good.

Even though the sunlit straw in the upper left corner is the brightest area in the photograph, I don't think it draws much attention away from Jacqueline. 

She appears to be a real blonde and her skin would natural be light, but I think just a little blush and more pronounced lipstick would help accentuate her natural beauty. I do realize that in this setting a lot of make-up is not called for, but a little more to go with her eye make-up would be nice.

She does have a beautiful figure and you have her left hip turned out which gives a very nice "S" curve to her body, but I wouldn't pose her 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.

You have her right hand turned so that the edge (side) of her hand is towards the camera. This gives the same effect as turning a girl's body at an angle to the camera. It makes it appear thin, feminine and graceful. It looks very good. I do wish she wasn't gripping the straw. It would look better if her fingers were more flat -- just learning against the straw lightly for support. It would look more feminine.

She has tiny point looking little catch lights in the middle of her pupils. They are very dim. A better location would be at about the 10 or 2 o'clock position on her irises. They would look better larger and brighter.

Your logo is not part of the photograph. You could quite properly place your name on a mat. Any advertising would be better placed on the back of the photograph.

Nice shot,

Mark

I think I would have used a reflector to bounce a bit of light onto the left side of her face. Just a tad. Also, might try softening the skin around her eyes and her cheeks - it appears a little rough and blotchy.

awesome responses. 

So....no one objects to her missing left hand?  I'm surprised. 

I agree with sarah..Reflector would been helpful to lit her side slightly. I wonder if I would have been able to do this better. Very natural and cool shot..