over the shoulder

[gunners67]

Hi i was going for the classic over the shoulder dreamy look and would like your thoughts on the composition and exposure, any tips or hints are most welcome many thanks.



0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture f/11.0
Focal Length 53 mm
ISO Speed 100

[maystery]

Hi,

I don't want to be harsh but to be frank I don't think the pose works in this case. The right eye is looking too far to the right and is distracting.
The composition coupled with the overexposure, to me, makes it look like a floating head and shoulder in space.

Might be better to crop out all that empty white space on the left and not cut off the top of the head...?

Cheers
M

[BigFuzzy]

The thing that most stood out to me is the "floating head" thing maystery mentioned. I'd have had her in a different colored shirt to do this. I don't like it with the whole low key/black background/black-t thing either.

I probably shouldn't talk about the pose as I simply don't like it in general.. feels "glamour shotty" to me.

I general like high key, so that's ok, but I see there is a lot of light bleeding around the edges of the woman, killing the outline.. if you want that, cool, me, I'd like to have seen more defined edges.

Lastly, and this is something that, to me, if not gotten right kills the whole image no matter how good the other stuff is.. and that's sharpness, especially of the eyes. They're simply not sharp. Focus on the whole image is off, maybe it's a result of some PP work you did? Either way, it's my opinion that the eyes in a portrait always have to start with sharp eyes (unless there's a specific intent behind not having them sharp, but I don't think that's your intent here?).

I'm glad you're playing with lights and all that and trying to achieve some real, non snap-shot images and all that.. but you have have have to nail the basic focus issues first I believe. (To be fully fair, the rest of your images from that session are sharp in your flickr stream )

[NicolaB]

Take this with a pinch of salt as I am trying to relate my learning to the critique board.....

Why f11? Do you know your lens sweet spot? That could also help get the sharpest focus.

Agree with Fuzzy - I always go to the eyes in a portrait close up.

The background is blown and distracts from your model.

From a girly point of view, the make up is too harsh for a dreamy image, as is her fun smile. She looks like she needs to stick her every day (black) clothes on and be a rebel. Just feels awkward - this of course is VERY subjective (poss 'cause she looks like my friend and she is no angel - lol)

If you move more to your left, she would not need to strain as much which would soften the whole image. A soft half smile would then be more in keeping with dreamy?

(Being harsh on you as it is a studio image - so you can take it right? )

[gunners67]

Thanks for all your comments very much appreciated. I was going for the soft focus look with P.S but i guess i could have left the eyes sharp.
F11 is the sweet spot of my lens and being a blown out background thought it wouldn`t be an issue in regards to dof.
I get what you mean about the floating head syndrom which is why i clipped the top of her head but agree a darker top may have been better also havn`t worked out how to not get light bleed while blowing the background so any tips most welcome.
Once again thanks for the comments