Senior pic and her dog

[Chandel]

Fijiflim fine pix S1000 Shutter speed 1/90 flash did go off

So the girl in the picture really loved this one, but to me it need something. I dont know what it is, if its different kind of lighting? Or background? Any ideas?

[BigFuzzy]

She's a pretty girl and you did a good job of getting her relaxed and looking comfortable, so I can see why she's happy with it. Shame you couldn't get one with the dog looking somewhat at you (though I know how difficult that is).

The issue I have with this image is twofold:

1. The flash is on camera straight-on flash, which is never flattering. Well, actually it does flatten her facial expression by doing what all straight-on flash does: eliminating shadows. There is no depth to her or the image in general which is why it's always best, if possible, to get the camera off flash and create some depth on her face through shadows that can only exist with angled light.

2. The background is very distracting because it's both (to me) not very pretty and has too much in it. She's almost lost a bit in the background and it's just a blah, brownish background. Try using a wider f-stop to blur out the background next time.

I like your choice of color processing (almost a bit cross-processed which I always like)

Again, I can see why she's happy, and she should be, however the flash and background are what make it a "meh" image to me.

[Niresangwa]

+1 to what Al said.

I think also her skin is way too warm. we're getting into oompah-loompah territory here it's looking so orange. If you're boosting saturation, try to be careful to maintain at least somewhat natural skin tones..

...there's toy camera/vintage toning, then there's radioactive skin toning. one should be careful to distinguish the two carefully

One thing you could have done, or at least tried, would be to slow the shutter a little more and let more ambient in, or at least exposed for the background and relied on the flash to fill her out... everything behind her is just so dark it brings down the whole tone of the image, especially with her wearing a dark sweater.

[Chandel]

Thank you both very very much! i will do all that you suggested!