joe_garrick

I like the idea of a closer crop, but I don't think I'd go quite that far. Jeremy's seems a tad claustrophobic for my taste.

 

The color is OK for me - it's already all pastels anyway.

I much prefer the composition here to the color variation in the same folder. The close crop works well. The lighting works well.

 

I think it would be interesting to see this with a little separation between her face and the flower - I can't quite visualize whether or not that would be better or worse. I also wouldn't mind seeing a color version of this (assuming you desaturated a color original). The color itself was very nice in the other color version, although B&W also works in this one.

John said "What great themes does it address?...

John and I seem to have radically different opinions about what constitutes art. The great theme in this photo is a charming expression captured on film. It's a window into the life of this little girl, and that's all it has to be. In the hands of her parents, this "snap" will be remembered fondly for decades after most of the "art" here has been sent to the landfill.

Regarding the photo itself, I tend to agree with the comments about the background treatment. I'd be inclined to just crop it tight enough to remove the corner on the far right and perhaps remove the blue window above her head.

Other than the background, I like it. The low perspective is a nice change of pace and her expression shows a lot of energy.

His arm takes over the photo a little too much. It's a nice concept and they have great expressions, but I can't get that big, dark sleeve out of my vision. Maybe if he a lighter colored shirt it might work, I don't know really. It's very nice otherwise - you can feel the warmth between them.

Well, I understand it - it's just a simple study of the interesting form and texture of ice on rock. There's no great meaning of life hidden in the photo, it's just an opportunity to study nature's intricate and infinite variety. The subject is rock and ice, but it has a very organic feel to it. You get to look at the photo and think about that.

The comment by Felix perfectly illustrates the appeal of this type of work for some people - you can make up whatever story you like to explain it away.

 

Here's my story:

 

A guy at a computer sees a picture of an out of focus ash tray and thinks to himself "I'm glad I quit smoking, because if I shot this, I would have a much more unique photo of an out of focus empty table."

I like the idea, but it needs more depth of field. I'd want to see the entire leaf in focus.

The background is a bit too focused - it draws attention away from the subject. I like that it doesn't look like a studio setup.

Sorry, but I can't handle the monster lighting on this face. I'd move the big light back up and use a fill light or a white reflector low - and brush that hair back a touch more if necessary.

 

Great shot otherwise. It's an adorable face and the shot is razor sharp (I've never understood why people like kids to be fuzzy).

Wow - I thought your work with kids was exceptional, but you're not slacking with the grown-ups either. This is really outstanding.

 

I'd like to see it unretouched, however. Did her skin really need that much help?

Pretty funny stuff - I hope she's a good swimmer.

The upper right shadows don't bother me, mainly because the shapes of them fairly closely parallel the dark areas in the lower right.

Amazing shot with or without the "frame," but it does work well.

The color, texture and composition are effective.

I would have left all of the lower lip in the photo, moving the bottom down just a sliver. Other than that, I think it's very well done. I like the even lighting and the composition is completely captivating. She's quite lovely and that big eye really pins you down and holds you there.

I also thought the green on green might be too much at the time, but it was what he was wearing and I thought it might be interesting. The background is just my lawn and shrubs.

It's a great face, skillfully captured. Nice work.

Sadly, I'm finding problems all over with this photo.

 

I'll start with the hair, which I realize isn't entirely in your control, but it's your photo so I think it's fair game. It's personal taste, but I think it's just bad for this woman. It's far too tangled looking and makes her face too square.

 

I don't know if it's makeup or lighting or maybe just some kind of scan artifact, but the eyes look like they belong on two entirely different photos. One looks like there's heavy eyeliner while the other almost fades into her cheek.

 

Finally, there's those hands. I find the hand on her face to be contrived looking to begin with, and the second one seems really awkward.

 

On the plus side, the photo is well lit and she has a face with great potential.

 

I'm sorry to have been so harsh, but looking at the other work in your portfolio, I think you're capable of much more with this woman. You have an abundance of good portraits posted here, but this isn't one of them.

The lighting is excellent and expression is great. I would like to see greater depth of field - at least enough to hold both eyes sharp. The toning is good here, not overdone. I think it improves this image over the untoned version.

I don't care for the grain, but that's just my taste. The composition is interesting. A good effort overall.

You know what to do...

The highlights are good - it just adds to the chisled look of the photo.

 

What I find interesting here isn't the well toned physique (I'm sure my wife would probably think differently), but the face. The pose and expression are all strength and attitude, except for the eyes. The eyes turn the expression from hard to soft. It's a very captivating photo.

Traditional to me means cookbook. There's nothing wrong with that - poses become "traditional" because they're good and people copy them, but that doesn't mean they're the only thing that works.

 

This is untraditional, but it's still well done, and her expression looks pretty geniune - the kind of look of contentment a beautiful young bride should have.

 

Just think, if enough people copy this, years from now someone will be saying "it's traditional, but it's still good."

I've always gone with the idea that makeup shouldn't stand out if it's done well.

Kezia - Stuff and Maxim are mens magazines. The covers are like - well, they're pretty much like what you see here. It's well toned bodies with heads on top.

 

I agree with the earlier remarks about the torso, she looks like she's sucking it in too hard.

 

I don't know what combination of film, lighting, and photoshop effects combines to give these skin tones, but it works. She definitely has that Stuff bronze goddess look.

 

I think maybe that "sucking it in" look might be reduced by putting the side lighting on her other side, so that the side of the waistline near the camera is in shadow, and (hopefully) that big dimple won't be so prominent. That might allow her to relax a bit without fearing that she's going to look too soft in the midsection.