portraits and fashion - archive 1 Natural

Clemson,

Beautiful girl - Lovely expression - Sharp focus - Nice catch lights - Very nice make-up (the color of her lipstick goes very well with her complexion (tell her to watch the lipstick application on her lower lip and application of the mascara on her lower lashes) - Soft pretty lighting - Good skin tone - Absolutely beautiful complexion - Excellent placement of her necklace on her chest.

Watch the vertical lines behind her and the bright blue area above her (they are a little distracting) - Compositional Rule: You should have more room in front of her than behind her ("rule" of thumb is that the tip of her nose should be in the vertical center of the photograph) - If you have her turn her head a little more towards the camera you will not have to move her as much to center her and you will not have so much of the whites of her eyes on one side of her eyes – (It would "balance" the whites of her eyes more) - Her hair is quite dark and you have lost a some of the detail in it (It would help to have light coming from the back to add some detail and to better separate her from the background – both her hair and the dark part of her top).

Notice the "V" of her neckline: It doesn't quite come together at the bottom of the photograph - This leads the viewer's eyes out of the picture - You want to keep the viewer within the picture - Crop a bit lower (into the dark part of the "V" if there is a dark part under the white, so that the viewer's eyes have a natural place to stop - Her bangs do not cut into her left eye, but they do come awfully close and do go into her eyelash (it would look better if they stopped before hitting any dark area around her eyes - Look at her bangs: They need to be combed anyway - when you do that just arrange them in a more pleasing manner.

You have a great head and shoulders portrait with just a few minor areas that might be improved. I'm sure your beautiful subject loved your photograph of her.

Nice shot,

Mark

Thanks to everyone for the comments and insights, but Mark thank you for your very thorough and well thought out analysis. I was very helpful to hear your thoughts. I am trying to learn little by little and to be honest, I never noticed the things you pointed out until you revealed them to me. Thank you.

Cheers