doug_axford1

I love the cropping & the feel of the overall portrait.

I would like to see some PS work done on this to darken the shoulder. Try covering half the shoulder with dark paper and suddenly the eye's become much more stunning because the light area on the shoulder is pulling your eye away. This says to me that you want to crop/darken/soften the shoulder.

Also, you've got a fantastic light coming from behind highlighting her hair. Love that. Now, how come there's so much flat light on her face? So, cut back on the reflector or flash. Create more mood. Especially, you want the far side of her face darker to put more emphasis on her eyes. I'd soften the whole image slightly, just don't touch her eyes!

I think with a little PS work, you can go from a good portrait to a great one.

I just did a quickie (really rough)3 min. change on my laptop, not the best for PS work, but I wanted to show you what I was meaning. I'm not sure how to save this as part of the critique though.

I think you've got a great image here.

Doug

Yup, it's wierd.

Mother & baby photos work best when there is a strong conection/interaction between the two. The dangling feet & hands, actually the entire direction of the image, just pulls my eye down.

I would prefer to see the baby face-up so that it can see the mother and get the arms & legs wiggling inthe air. Experimentation is good. Keep trying, but people like to see babys that are smiling or have huge eyes. I'd suggest that you try very soft window light for something less contrived.

Doug