finefacefotos

terrific idea, beautiful result.

here are some actual thoughts:

 

green? ok. green eye/s? yes. cherry/lips/catchlight? yes! hair? yes! composition? yes, but i wonder if this was the best crop. left arm? yes. right arm/elbow? no. denim? yes. floorboards? yes. perspective/geometry? yes. off-center sitting? wouldn't work without it, even though it makes that area hard to parse. uneven catchlights? ok, since one eye and cherry dominate. face bisected by window sill? adds tension. face is strong enough to draw attention away from this, and the light falloff helps disguise the line. tattoo? requisite counterpoint. burned out highlights in the shoulder area? maybe the print will have the detail -- it is unfortunate since this is a nice part of the subject... but the black frame (hair+straps) compensates. single leg? ok. gap between arm and leg? space is consonant in size and geometry. white lambertian wall? yes. expression in hand and face? absolutely -- the main strength of the picture. color? yes, good palette. blue triangle in upper left? ok. right strap? required to help delineate. kicker lighting on the left arm? ok -- does not draw inordinate attention. baseboard beneath chair slats? it's confusing at first, but then it's interesting, esp. considering the lines drawing to the hidden point (the floor's corner at dead center). flow? yes, thru the lower triangle-- eyes-cherry-arm-leg-bottom-tattoo-back-hair-head-eyes... back has an S, back and chair have a V.

 

i think the only real weakness is the right arm/elbow, and i think another half inch of exposure would have helped. there are quite a few other small semantically distinct segments that seem scattered -- is this detail or is it detraction? for example, the exposed knuckle on the middle finger. also the gap of right cheek between nose and lip. the slightly suspended right strap. the barely discernible chair leg under the left leg... the tiny blue visible edge of right leg. i think it all works as a sort of peekaboo.

 

overall, i've looked at this for an hour now and i still like it. a lot.

ok, i just emailed you about buying a print of this picture. how about that as a comment?

fantastic! use this on the cover of a book of portraits.

great addition to a marvelous portfolio. don't overlook the motion of the hand and the gorgeous background nuances of green and blue greys. the skin tones are beautiful on their own, but the background really amplifies. rope? voyeurism? who cares. do whatever you want in the foreground if you have such nice compositional elements to work with! we should rename the lower-left-thirds crossing point after this shot: "the gitane-perfect-corner".

sorry, but i study dance, do figure sculpture, analyze body language, and do photo portraiture. this is NOT an awkward pose. in fact, it's a real winner. anyone would be happy to have this shot in his camera, in her photo album, or in a portfolio. this is what portraiture is about. less is more. almost any technical complaint you might start to make just subsides when you consider the success of the whole. i can't stop admiring.

i want to add that photographers and editors are obsessed with catchlights these days, and the softboxes and reflectors they are using are obscuring the subject's eyes. it takes just a few seconds to realize that this is sort of an important part of the person you're photographing. here is an example of lighting the eyes that is completely successful without any catchlights at all. you can barely make out the iris, a hint on one side and a contrast difference on the other, and this is mystery is desirable given the message of the image.

i keep trying to bring the right border in and it ends up emphasizing the shoulder too much. so i respect your cropping. i like the way the subject's right arm (on the left) drops into the background, and i definitely think high key is right here with your hair color. i disagree with the comment about the lint -- i see exactly why you left the scratch/hair from the scan. i wonder whether you removed other lint and deliberately left this one. the location below the scratches below the fray below the expression is fortuitous. well, i like this picture because i like nuance, and it's all here -- the subject is worthy, the moment is worthy, and the photographer has delivered. (is this c41 b&w? it has that softer look, which works with the expression.) not rusprisingly, i went to look at your portfolio and i GET your work. i wish photo.net had more people who did stuff from the heart and not so many editorial/advertising/stock photo looks. your photos of your boyfriend are also very sensitive, and your tabletop items make me laugh.