thoughts on framing of subject and coloring

[atlhudaks]

I took this picture at the beach. I did the vignette to frame the picture a little. What do you think? I wish I didn't have the shadows in there. Sometimes I feel like my outside pictures (especially near the water) can look a little washed out.
This was taken with my d7000

[praline3001]

If your going to keep this as a color shot I would get rid of the vignette as it washes out the photo even more. I really think this photo was pop in a B&W or Sepia. Then you can use a vignette.

[graciousness]

That white vignette, I have to say, is terrible and not a fan of. That's personal opinion and preference though, so if you like it, then use it. The only thing I can add to that is that it does make it look amateurish and looks like you were trying to hide some flaw with the photo.

The subject is out of focus. You can try bringing this up in editing.

If you are trying to take photos outdoors in bright sun, photos will tend to look washed out if the subject is right under direct sun. Use of filters will help this, however, better if you do shoot in open shade and avoid bright, direct sun altogether.

You should never feel the need for white vignetting if you compose or frame your photos properly. Fill the frame with portraits, or if you like negative space, then frame this intentionally without needing vignette to undo the negative space.

Would like to see other photos, though, with her face in it so that we can critique better. Hard to critique here because you can hardly see anything on the subject and background.

Cheers,

Grace

[atlhudaks]

Thanks for the feedback! I haven't had my DSLR long and am still getting used to it, but want to learn to take better pictures. Here is another picture of her from behind that is much more in focus. I just wasn't crazy about the framing and the legs in the top left.

I also attached a picture I took of her from the front. (the original and then one cropped and in black and white). I tend to like the black and white one best.

[metoo]

I think if you cloned out the legs and turned in black and white it would look nice. It shouldn't be hard to clone out those legs either they aren't mixing with any of the main details of your picture.