B&W Princess

[Bre770]

Hi

I would like some feed back on this shot of my little girl. Only new to this and keen to learn.

Thanks in advance.

[josh797]

that is really adorable, this is making me miss my niece but thanks for the inspiration!

[zona5101]

Its very nice image. It is, however, too dark and there's "stuff" in the background competing for your eye's attention. Compositional I like how you framed it with her to the left. The half of hand isn't so good, better to have had her move it out of the frame. The hair/rim light is great. It would have been nice to diffuse the main so the shadow under her chin wasn't so strong.
Nice capture, she's cute as a button.

[Bre770]

Thanks Zona. That's exactly the sort of feedback i am after. I will keep them things in mind.

Cheers
Brett

[John Hendry]

Originally Posted by zona5101

Its very nice image. It is, however, too dark and there's "stuff" in the background competing for your eye's attention. Compositional I like how you framed it with her to the left. The half of hand isn't so good, better to have had her move it out of the frame. The hair/rim light is great. It would have been nice to diffuse the main so the shadow under her chin wasn't so strong.
Nice capture, she's cute as a button.

All good points, its all a bit messy for me.

all the best

[windrider86]

Be sure to read the critique section rules/guidelines and include the information asked for. Thank you in advance for editing your post!

[Bre770]

Windrrider 86... I can't get the AFIX details but I can say it was taken on a Pentax KD10.

Messy in what way? I would like to know so I can learn.

Brett

[graciousness]

Hi Brett,

What I think John Hendry is saying in regards to 'messy' pertains to the background. Actually, I think messy is a bit too strong of a word to be used as it's really not all that messy. I think the right word is 'distracting'.

When you look through your viewfinder, it's important to also see what is in your foreground and background of your image. You want to make sure that there is not something distracting away from the focus of your main image. In your photo here, the background is distracting and taking away from your little girl because it is: 1) a little too busy; 2) there are areas lighter than your daughter's beautiful face. Our eyes will wander on a photo and go to the lightest area in a photograph. Hence, the background is distracting and has taken away from us, the viewers, concentrating and focusing on the girl's face instead.

I have just started to keep this in mind, myself, when taking photos. If you are taking photos, even candidly, if there are things in the foreground or background that is distracting, take them away or if not possible, move to another angle or position so that you do not include these distractions in your photos. You really don't want to make it too much of a habit having to clone out or hide objects out of photos (through post processing).

You have done well with taking this photo so keep snapping. It would be helpful, though, if you want more critique, to have the EXIF data if possible at all so that people can advice on how you can improve the exposure for next time. As mentioned, this photo is a little bit too dark and can use more exposure on her face.

Cheers,

Grace

[John Hendry]

Hi Yes distracting is a good word.

I like the composition and the expression,

I feel the highlights in the backgound and the hand cut in two are distracting, and the hair a bit untidy. I like the image but do feel these things take away from the image.

Just my thoughts

all the best