victorpanlilio

As far as this photo being some indictment of the educational system or parenting in general, that's just bizarre to me. I doubt the boredom of waiting at bus stops has much to do with how someone was raised or educated.

 

Beg pardon, I may be reading too much into the image, but I have just seen too many minors smoking or drinking at bus stops, or vandalizing bus shelters. Boredom is just a short step away from anomie. If our children are bored, whatever the circumstances, it is partly because they have not learned to entertain themselves with a rich imagination or an observant curiosity about the world around them. What is bizarre is that such childhood ennui escapes the notice of many adults, even those who are themselves parents. If the children in the photograph had as much curiosity about their surroundings as Paul Conrad, who took the pictures, I doubt they'd be bored. Of course, I'm biased -- I went for ten years without a car and I did a lot of waiting at bus stops, but I was never bored.

I looked at this photo and I was overwhelmed with a great feeling of sadness. It is disturbing to see children so young already looking so bored with life -- there must be something dreadfully wrong with the way we are raising/teaching our children. This is first-class visual reportage, and biting social commentary as well.

I thought at first that the groom was Andre Agassi and the bride was Minnie Driver! I think I've been looking at too many photos of models and actors lately...lovely photo, BTW

Where or not it was deliberate, the effect is to make the pelvis/hips assume disproportionate size relative to the shoulders. Leaning backwards on the book cart to that extent makes subject look off balance. Try less of a lean, a bit longer focal length setting, and throw the background more out of focus, it's a bit too busy.

"I feel the negative most likely was at its best" -- uh, it was shot with a digital camera. As for the model's expression, it looks to me more like drowsiness, alienation, or anomie. The hand is very distracting, because some fingers are cut off at their joints, and on the whole the hand seems disembodied, almost as if it belongs to someone else. There may be some perspective distortion if this was shot at the wide end of the E20 zoom, and it makes the fingers look knobby (shallow DOF doesn't help). As a 'mood shot' it works, though.

...of a back cover for a late-night jazz CD, but maybe not (yet) in North America (too much chest showing).

...is a little too obvious because of the exposure imbalance between portions of the sky. Photoshop might offer a better way to burn in the sky and clouds, especially nearer the mountains, without the problem of the feathered line cutting diagonally through middle.

Now that's a mighty fine character shot!

...do you mean she put her face right on the glass of the flatbed scanner? Oh ho ho, now I get it!

Direct, on-camera flash is harsh and unflattering, try softer window light to bring out contours of baby's face; also try to capture a wider variety of expressions; colorful toy is quite distracting and draws the eye away from baby's face because of its dominance in the frame; right ear is cut off

...the images featured in Edward Steichen's 'The Family of Man' -- same tonality, same mood, same universal appeal. Printed on fiber-based BW paper, this would be collectible fine art.

Erase/de-emphasize: creases in neck; Erase: stray hair above model's right eyebrow

Non-Photoshop suggestion: light dusting of matte powder to cut down shine on her skin

Not sure if I can tell accurately from the screen image, but the depth of field is extremely shallow and so the boy's face in front is slightly out of focus. We can still see the expression, but perhaps another image has it sharply in focus?

Great expression for a casual portrait. Background nicely out of focus. Face perhaps a bit too central, try a different composition. Good use of reflection to fill shadows from below. Rimlighting on hair almost works, also try different angle or time of day. Highlight on her forehead is too hot, reposition subject or use a diffusion scrim. Adjust eyeglasses to show more of eyes (frame obscures too much) and eliminate the reflection in the lenses if possible.