My cousin

[ThePhotographess]

Here is a photo of my cousin. I know the background is distracting, but I kind of like it. Could I possibly use a clone tool to fix it {the background}? And does her skin look over-edited? This was a spur-of-the moment shot by the way.


Canon Rebel XT
50mm
F1.8
ISO 100
1/80

[SusanH1970]

You might want to have a look here: Critique Forum Rules - particularly #4.

[ThePhotographess]

Sorry, I fixed that

[Rentham]

I would have put her head right in that black square for a frame within a frame. As it stands, her head isn't quite in or out of it. It looks like you just weren't paying attention to the background.

[SusanH1970]

Agreed with Mike. Also, I took a look at your EXIF on Flickr - actually, it's:

Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
Exposure mode: Auto
White balance: Auto

She seems a tad underexposed and the white balance is definitely off. The lighting is not bad (open shade is great!). Although I do like the tilt of her head, having her body square to the camera isn't the most flattering. The purse straps on her shoulder look a bit funny, too. Viewed large, her right eye is out of focus - the left one is slightly sharper, but it looks like the focus fell on her chin. Eyes should always, always be the sharpest part of a portrait.

I wouldn't bother trying to clone the background - I'd just retake it, keeping the background in mind next time.

[ThePhotographess]

Thanks for the criticism I just had to guess on the exif info. I never knew that was on Flickr {im a newbie to it }