Portrait photo on the waterfall

[MindRaider]

Hi,

We were having a family lunch in a very nice restaurant near a small waterfall in southern Lebanon.

We went afterwards to the very bottom of the waterfall and had a quick portrait photo-shooting session.

Here is one of the photos (my wife).

Let me know what do you think in terms of composition and lighting.

I made photo treatments in Adobe Raw and Photoshop (Exposure, white balance and Image cropping)



EXIF:
Nikon D90
Aperture Priority Mode
F/4.8
1/200 sec
125 mm Focal Length
ISO 400

Exposure: 1+ (re-adjusted this in Adobe RAW)

[Modiad]

This is a great potrait. I really like the color and "structure" of her hair. The eyes are really stunning, but i think the pink tones of her clothes do not fit together very well with the green background.

Nico

[SusanH1970]

Wow, your wife is stunning!

Compositionally, I think this would have been better shot from further back if you wanted to keep it in landscape orientation; even better if you'd had shot it in portrait orientation. Her eyes are nearly dead center of the frame and the way her arm and back are cropped is awkward. The way her shoulder and arm are coming up partially obscuring her face make her appear as she has no neck. That's just nitpicky, though.

You're lighting isn't bad, but it is flat, and there are a couple of blown out spots on her shoulder and back. Her skin tones are a touch off, too - she's looking a bit red; it appears the red channel has been blown in her top. This can be adjusted in PP, especially if you shot in RAW.

Excellent focus and I love her eye contact/connection with the camera!

[MindRaider]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

Wow, your wife is stunning!

Compositionally, I think this would have been better shot from further back if you wanted to keep it in landscape orientation; even better if you'd had shot it in portrait orientation. Her eyes are nearly dead center of the frame and the way her arm and back are cropped is awkward. The way her shoulder and arm are coming up partially obscuring her face make her appear as she has no neck. That's just nitpicky, though.

You're lighting isn't bad, but it is flat, and there are a couple of blown out spots on her shoulder and back. Her skin tones are a touch off, too - she's looking a bit red; it appears the red channel has been blown in her top. This can be adjusted in PP, especially if you shot in RAW.

Excellent focus and I love her eye contact/connection with the camera!

Hi,

Many thanks for your detailed comments - I gave it another go on PP - I applied the rule of thirds in the framing and tried to enhance lighting - hope it was more successful.



What do you think?

Regards,
Houssam

[SusanH1970]

I'm still not wild about the crop - she's chopped at the elbow and there's a bit too much negative space.

The PP work is MUCH better, though! Skin tones look natural and the colors look bright without being oversaturated. Did you do any skin smoothing? It might be a just tad overdone, but not way too much.

[WooD]

I love your edited version.

[MindRaider]

This is another photo from the same set:



Do you think it need better color treatment?

[private]

I do like the re-edited first version, but like susan sd, its best not to crop at the joint, but also do not be afraid to chop off part of her head to achieve the rule of thirds.

What software are you using to post process? In the second one, I would bump up the curves a bit. I am sure veryone you show these to will love them - she's beautiful!

[ricklumpas]

I also like the edited version. It is really wise to shoot in RAW.

[BigFuzzy]

Susan pretty much nailed it I think. The crop is a bit awkward. I think anytime you have anything blocking parts of, or coming too close to, the face, it will feel weird to me. Why would you want to block any part of that lovely face?!

As with some of your previous posts, I think you do way too much skin smoothing. Seeing the 2nd edit, and that last photo, she really doesn't need it in my opinion. The colors in the first were over saturated to the point they didn't feel natural to me at all.

Heh, and in the last image you have her covering her face again like you did in one of your very first posts... either she, or you, really like doing that. I say don't. A) she'd beautiful and B) it feels too 'posey' for me. I can almost see you saying "take your scarf, cover your mouth, and look at me sexy!"

I like your DoF and your images are nice and crisp (you'd be surprised how many can't get that basic part right!). Just be careful on the PP, because when it's immediately obvious work has been done, it's gone too far.