New at this. Constructive Criticism wanted

[sashe]

I am trying to improve my photography skills for no other reason than it has always been a dream of mine. I purchased my first DSLR 6months ago and am experimenting with LightRoom and Photoshop. Photoshop is my enemy at the moment. I just don't have the time to devote to it that I would like. I would like to get some constructive criticism from those who know more than I so that I can improve and learn. Thank you for taking the time to look!

[spazoid1965]

I don't see any photo.

[MrJones]

I think you're on the right way.
the pose and overall feeling is good, though I'm missing the left arm.
the main problem is that the background is too busy, my guess is you chose a closed aperture (high F value).
the background keeps drawing my attention away from her face.

[windrider86]

Please read the guidelines and include the information asked for. Thank you

[SwissJon]

LoL.. Well you aren't alone in the "beginner" stakes, I'm not a lot further ahead. I think what you're being asked for is the EXIF data.. you can find that on the right hand side in "Library" in Lightroom where it says "Meta data"

I like that photo, but to my eye, the autumn leaves distract from the model. I know that's the point of the photo, but she has hair that's almost the same colour as the tree behind her, and her clothes are also similar.. I think I might have zoomed in a little (or walked forwards) and filled the frame a bit more with the model. I'd also have moved to the right, so the brighter orange tree was behind the model.. Don't know why, but I think with that colour behind her you'd lose the model a little bit less. Also what was said about opening the aperture to blur the background (Which would have been achieved by moving forwards too) would have given you a more even backdrop without losing the colour.

But the photo is very nice. I love the fence, I like her pose, and I think you should go back there in the winter, spring and summer and try to take the same pose.. The changes in colour, cropped square and mounted together would give you a really nice montage.

[kristenh]

i like the model, the place, the pose, all of it. but i agree with pps that it is very hard to see your model with all that background color/busy-ness. i think it would have been better if you were much closer and used a wider aperture, so the background would blur out. or stood farther away but zoomed in with a long lens. i'm also wondering if you used the saturation slider b/c the colors seem a bit stronger than real life to me. if you did, move it down a bit.

also wondering about the lighting- did you brighten up the upper part of the photo but not the lower? or did some vignetting? to me, the legs are strangely dark

and then last thought: since you have already taken off her feet, i'm wondering if you should go with a much tighter crop- take away a lot of the trees up to and crop her around the waist. i'd play around if that if it were my shot.

[sashe]

Thank you so much for the useful information.

SwissJon, I really like the idea of repeating the same shot for each season!

Kristenh, I did use some vingetting and was wondering about the saturation. Thank you for your input