htarragon

Nice sense of movement her i.e. girl, waves - well composed, nice separation of FG/BG. You've got a good eye, John, I wouldn't waste it on so much T&A shots. This is not one of them.

A classic look, could have been Manet or Goya (except for the sunglasses) with the off the shoulder top, tousled hair and the bare legs. Nicely done.

Frederick - I tried setting the grey and black levels light level in PSE and raising the contrast. Not necessarily an improvement. The original has soft shadows and an overall softness that contributes to the serenity of her expression. Many photographers would try to use PS to get this effect. It's a lovely shot.

Not an amateur shot. Great sculpting with light.

I love cats and redheads (not necessarily in that order), so, I love this. You see see who stole the shot by the other comments.

Couldn't figure out the title until I started playing with the photo in Elements. She a redhead! Setting the grey point brought in the color and the contrast. Adjusting the color for the skin tone made the picture pop. She's gorgeous.

Also did Mark's improvements i.e. changed blue strap to tan, left the red flower because now id just set of the green dress and red hair, lightened eyes and teeth, added a little eye shadow and mascara. The biggest improvements, however, were the first two changes.

Can I add the edited picture? Les, your eye was good, she's a beauty and you caught her nicely.

Nice pose and expression. But:

1. She's too close to the background so you're getting a shadow on the wall

2. Light is head on so you;ve got harsh shadows under her fingers and her chin.

3. There's no modeling to her face because the light is head on and she is sitting square to the camera.

4. The light is flat and harsh - needs to be dialed down and moved to the side.

5. It looks like the focus point is on her hair coming in front of her shoulder rather than her eyes.

6. The comb should not be there.

The picture with the dark background is much better.

Interesting shot - it's almost like an Escher - can't tell if she's level or descending stairs - or flying, with wings outspread. You've turned her into an angel.

Great work

She  is a beautiful redhead and the idea of the shot is one I've had as well (backlighting a redhead).  I like the silhouetting of her figure, as well. The only problem I see is what I see as overexposure and a too bright and distracting background.

I took the liberty of toning things down by burning the background and a little bit on her face and hair. I realize that you may have wanted a hazy light but there seems to be too much for me.

I will assume the lens flare was on purpose. The question is why? It adds nothing and detracts from the picture by being distracting and degrading the image. She has a wonderful smile and deserves a better picture, which it would have been without the flare.

Thank you all for your comments. They are very encouraging. I like the serenity of her expression which does show a side of her personality.

Cats always steal the photo. Lovely shot.

As Starvy Goodfellows said in the POW Discussion, This has a special meaning for those in NY. As a NY'er it sends chills down my spine. For longer than one might think, whenever I saw that type of plane overhead, after 9/11, it gave me the willies.

That being said, the picture is very effective. I would not cut off the bottom part of the picture because it leads the eyes to the plane. The plane sort of hangs there, overhead.. Well done.

A little too much light on her face from reflector. Hair on fire! I love redheads backlit.

Correction: Top should be a deeper green and she should be in na place where the grass is not reflected onto her skin as in other of your photos. The first two photos and the last one are the best because they are in soft light not direct sunlight.

Nice looking model, good pose, lots of curves and angles. The problem is you  have too much of several things.

Overexposure of the surfaces facing the sun (or other light source) - blown out whites on colored surface

Perspective lines lead eyes away from model to logs on far wall. Crop from right to edge of grass to right of model and down from top to bottom of log above her head.

Her green top and the grass throwing a green cast on her face. A complementary color to green top would heighten her green eyes.

Hope this helps.

As much as I like cats, this one is distracting and doesn't add anything to the picture. There are in fact many distracting elements i.e.the dress pattern, the wallpaper and the things coming out of the model's head and the bright orange couch The focus point seems to be on the forward edge of the sleeve with DOF extending to top of shoulder leaving her face out of focus.

You do have the model in a relaxed pose facing window light and her position is pleasing. If this was a grab shot, I can see why you took it. It needed to be improved in the viewfinder. Vertical format, better focus and control of DoF. Try again.

Very dynamic and well composed. The lights and darks are well balanced; the ripples and the fishing pole give good diagonal movement. Nicely done.

Where's the alley? The lighting and the background look like he's sitting on an asteroid in space. Very strange.