Shelly

Tried for a subdued soft colours look . Any comments very much

appreciated . Thank you .

William,

Pretty girl. Nice sharp focus on her eyes. Good catch lights. She has a pleasant neutral expression. You have a nice neutral background, but your background light is a little hot. You don't want a spotlight behind her. You just want a subtle darkening to the edges of the photograph. Great hair light, but that could be toned down a little -- a bit too noticeable.

She looks a bit pale. You may want to warm her skin a little. Her make-up is quite good, but a little eyeliner under her eyes might look good. Her lipstick or lipgloss might be just a little more pronounced, so as not to blend in with her complexion.

She has some reddish blotches on her skin. You might what to remove them. Watch the lines in her eyelids. You will want to soften them.

I think you have too much head room. You may want to move her over to her left just a little. You want to compositionally balance the left and right sides of the photograph. The compositional "rule" for this suggests that you position the tip of the subject's nose in the vertical center of the photograph.

Notice the neckline of her top. The viewer's eyes will go to the “V” of the neckline and follow it down and out of the photograph because there is nothing there to stop it. You should try to crop below where the neckline comes together so that the viewer's eyes have a place to stop. The same is true of her necklace. You want to crop below her necklace or pendant. You don't want to lead the viewer's eyes out of the photograph.

Nice shot,

Mark

William,

I would suggest that you ignore Mark Chartrand and his critique. Take a look at his site and you will find he has submitted no photographs what-so-ever for us to look at. His biography says he has four Master's degrees from as many institutions. He is obviously a professional student rather than someone who has learned anything. I strongly suggest he is one who cannot take a good photograph so he is hiding behind the mask of the critic.

Regards,

Jerry

Thank you Mark , for once again providing a full analysis . I can't agree with all your points though . If the tip of her nose is placed in the centre it leaves too much dead space on the left of the picture .

Cropping below the Vee of her top would have resulted in a top heavy image .

I agree that the hair light is too bright , I've got it on the lowest setting . I will have to come up with some means of dimming it further , a low ceiling doesn't help !

Re : the spot light effect on the background , I quite like it !

My Grandaughter has read your comment .... you're quite safe though , she can't get at you ! LOL !

Seriously though , it might get her to understand what her Old Grandad is trying to do the next time she poses .

Thanks again , Regards , Bill

Jerry

Thanks for your comment . At the risk of sounding pompous , I always take notice of critism and suggestions . This doesn't mean that I always follow them though !

Regards , Bill