How can I make this shot better.

[TheCrayonLine]

The only shopping I have done is cropping to get the composition I wanted and a tweak to the exposure (I shot this in RAW). there is a color variation that I can't figure out where it came from.



The only light source is a series of tea candles in the front, and a small halogen bed lamp in the back. I was trying for a candlelit motif, but couldn't get enough light on the back without the lamp. I didn't have any stronger candles that would give the same color as the tea lights.

What shopping techniques could be used to improve this? What can I do different when shooting to help before doing the post processing?

[marcinK]

Some modification in Picasa: warmer temperature, slightly blurred corners, sharpening (poorly implemented in Picasa) IMO opinion glasses and a buttle of wine distracts viewer attention. It,would be great to light only face and hands Easy to say, harder too execute...

[snapdragon]

IMO the lighting is the one thing that can make a big differance . the warm glow of the candle light was lost by the bluish light from the lamp .so more candles , and the wine bottle would not draw as much att if it were beside her rather than hidding in the corner . I hope you don't mind I ran your photo in photo tool kit ,ajusted the lighting to warm it more like candle light and cleaned up some of the light & dark pixels ( faded the wine bottle & glass ) & lite up her pretty face . Hope you like it ,and can get the effect you were trying for with the photo . I love candle light photos ,

[ellie mac]

The thing that I'm finding is that my eye is really drawn to the shadow line across her arms and then to the pattern of the fabric she is leaning on.

I think the pose is really nice, you may just need to pay a bit more attention to what is around, simplify the setting and really work out what the lighting is doing & you'll have a lovely portrait.

As for post processing I'm not good at it at all, but maybe there is a way to reduce the shadow under her eyes, which is not especially flattering (to anyone!)

[PLouie]

I'm not sure if it was intended or not but the wine glasses and bottle in the background suggest to me there was a celebration of some sort or something similar. I think it'd be a very good idea if maybe she was in a formal party dress smiling with a different pose. I think that could make a wonderful photo. It could suggest a wedding anniversary or something like that. You probably wouldn't want underlit subjects for that though.

If you go that route you might want warmer colors. It depends on the mood of the scene you want to portray.