Young and Lovely II

Classical portrait. Classical beauty...

Quant' è bella giovinezza

Che si fugge tuttavia

 

Just a stunner. And one day that necklace will be gold and emeralds.

Les,

 

She is a pretty girl. You have focused well on her eyes. Her make-up is well applied. You have a good neutral background. She is well separated from the background. There is good eye contact with the camera (viewer) and she has a pleasant expression. The backlight helps separate her from the background and isn't overly noticeable. She has excellent skin tones. This is a very nicely done head and shoulders portrait.

 

Her bra strap is noticeable, but at least it is a similar color to her top. The red top is a bit distracting. Avoid bright colors and bold patterns in clothing. In a portrait the subject’s face is what is most important and nothing should draw the viewer’s attention away from the face. Green and yellow background colors usually do not go well with skin tones.

 

Along the left side of the background there is a dark shadow from something? She needs more head room. You have cropped too close to the top of her head.

 

She should be moved a little to her right. 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.

 

You have a band of catch lights across her irises. One catch light per eye is preferred. Her lighting is quite flat. Judicious use of shadows can create the illusion of depth within the photograph. I would have removed the bruise on her right arm.

 

You could have subtly burned in the edges of the photograph to help keep the viewer's eyes within the photograph. This is especially useful when you have a bare arm leaving the photograph. This is why many photographers prefer to have their subjects wear long sleeved tops for head and shoulder portraits.

 

Nice shot,

 

Mark

Les, She is a beauty. If I were to do anything different, if would be more contrast on her face/hair to create greater depth and tone down the orange to bring the top and bottom of the image in closer balance. I think you could do this without losing your intended effect. Nicely done. David

Mark and David, you are mostly right, IMO. I'm attaching an edit. I tried to keep from overdoing things.