Pose / Composition/ Lighting - Critique

[StephenJay]

Hi guys, practicing my portraiture - going on my 1 year anniversary since I started serious with photography and well there is so much to learn and to improve on. Well guys my title says it all. What do you think of the pose? What do you think of her composition and placement within the frame? What do you think of how the scene was lit and the overall exposure? Thanks a lot for taking the time to comment and critique -




p.s. I want to use this picture as one of my display pics for my Photography Class finals but double checking with you good folks on DPS first before I make a boo boo.

best regards,
SJ

[Irene K]

I'm not pro so I don't have any hardcore advice, but the one thing that I noticed first is the sun spot on her knee. A little distracting. Otherwise I like it!

[tyasa81]

Hi stephen... please take my critique with a grain of salt... i'm not sure if you can re shoot with the proposed changes but maybe u can do it in your future shoot... as is it's a nice model shoot...

now for the critiques... i'm not sure i like her hands on her thighs... the angle makes it look unnaturally big compared to her very thin forearms... maybe if you can angle it so it'll show more from the side instead of the top of her hand it'll look better and not so stiff... another thing is this is a very high contrast scene... i wish there's more light on her face and especially her hair since right now it'll blended in with the cave... maybe you can add some light behind her to outline her hair and show a bit more texture in the cave... and while you are adding light you might want to light her face too... so it becomes the focal point of the picture...

please take this crit with a grain of salt... the last thing i want to do is to dissuade you or make you think it's a bad picture... it's not... maybe it's just nit picking... but sometimes beauty comes from the details...

[StephenJay]

Originally Posted by Irene K

I'm not pro so I don't have any hardcore advice, but the one thing that I noticed first is the sun spot on her knee. A little distracting. Otherwise I like it!

Thanks for your comment Irene, that is well noted. One of the things I myself did not like that much, but sort of included it trying to keep it within the natural frame of things.

Originally Posted by tyasa81

Hi stephen... please take my critique with a grain of salt... i'm not sure if you can re shoot with the proposed changes but maybe u can do it in your future shoot... as is it's a nice model shoot...

now for the critiques... i'm not sure i like her hands on her thighs... the angle makes it look unnaturally big compared to her very thin forearms... maybe if you can angle it so it'll show more from the side instead of the top of her hand it'll look better and not so stiff... another thing is this is a very high contrast scene... i wish there's more light on her face and especially her hair since right now it'll blended in with the cave... maybe you can add some light behind her to outline her hair and show a bit more texture in the cave... and while you are adding light you might want to light her face too... so it becomes the focal point of the picture...

please take this crit with a grain of salt... the last thing i want to do is to dissuade you or make you think it's a bad picture... it's not... maybe it's just nit picking... but sometimes beauty comes from the details...

Thanks for the great critique Tyasa, I truly do appreciate you taking the time out to comment on the little things I myself noticed but needed to hear so thank you so very much everything you said is spot on. I cannot re-shoot this, but I have a couple other takes from the same scene where the lighting is a little better. Here is one that I did a vertical and it is my favourite out of the bunch. What would your take be on this image? Lighting/composition/pose - thank you again. Does this one work better than the previous?



thanks for critiquing commenting.
SJ

[Ania Photo]

The crop is good, it makes the photo more powerful. Before the bright light on the knee kept distracting my eye. For next time might I suggest a silver or even gold reflector pointed towards her. There will be a great pop factor added to your photograph.

[tyasa81]

Hi... are the links broken since i can't see any pictures now... or is it just on my computer?