shawnah

[angeleyes216]

can you give me any ideas how to improve this photo

[clockdoc]

Hi Lori and welcome to the group. It appears a little dark on my monitor and I am wondering how you lit this. There appears to be a 'circle of light' about the subjects head and shoulders. Was this added in post production? Cropping is a little close on the head as it is placed to the right of the frame. Lastly, I'd concentrate on getting some catchlights in the eyes.The right eye has one but the left eye catchlight is barely there. Can you tell us alittle more abiut how you made this photo as that may help others offer some constructive comments. I like your idea and look forward to seeing more of your work. I'll be happy to help where I can.

[angeleyes216]

Originally Posted by clockdoc

Hi Lori and welcome to the group. It appears a little dark on my monitor and I am wondering how you lit this. There appears to be a 'circle of light' about the subjects head and shoulders. Was this added in post production? Cropping is a little close on the head as it is placed to the right of the frame. Lastly, I'd concentrate on getting some catchlights in the eyes.The right eye has one but the left eye catchlight is barely there. Can you tell us alittle more abiut how you made this photo as that may help others offer some constructive comments. I like your idea and look forward to seeing more of your work. I'll be happy to help where I can.

Thankyou for your comments. I took this photo with my point and shoot 3.2 olympus and added the colour around the head using photo impact editor.
As i am new to photography i appreciate any comments. I wasnt planning to do anything with this photo, i only took it at the time because i thought she was a very pretty girl, so no real effort went into setting it up. How can i add the catchlights that you mention?

[jiminyClickit]

angeleyes216, Welcome

Many ways to place catchlights, easiest has to be using a brush with a slight greyish white on it, to place a dot (simulating flash, or lamp, or window) in accordance with your lighting. Here the left eye has one already, so apply it approximately in same "clock" position. This is a good experimenting photo, since it doesn't have a destination. Intriguing angle and colors.

Here are examples of complex and (at bottom) the simple dot light source:

Child portrait

[clockdoc]

Hi,
Here is a quick addition of catchlights to her eyes. I cloned out the existing catchlights and just added a few pixels of a light brown to each iris. Traditionally, catchlights are positioned at either 10 o'clock or 2 o'clock with one in each eye. With her head being inverted you may need to play with the positions to see what looks best. Study catchlights in other portraits and see if you can determine their source and the dirction of the light. Even though many lights may be used in a portrait, you should see just one catchlight as it strengthens the illusion only one light was used. I'll be happy to help where I can. Don't hesitate to ask questions.
Here is the edited version with catchlights added:

[angeleyes216]

yes it really makes a difference and these are the little things that us beginner photographers dont realise. I appreciate your suggestions and comments.