Street portrait of a little girl

[anniehun]

Street portrait of a little girl, in Thailand. Taken in the "heat of the moment", as she showed special interest in the camera (so did her mom), so I wanted to show her how she looks like on the LCD/in a picture. Later on I edited it in Lightroom.

I know it is best to ask specifically here, yet I am interested in general, since I am always biased with portraits of kids (not only with my shots). OK, I actually can come up with specifics:
1. What do you think of the composition?
2. Lighting, exposure, too much, too little? (used available natural light, obviously, as it is a shot of the moment, from the street)
3. Are the elements in the background too distracting, or they add to the overall feeling of the image?
4. Is the toning/coloring in PP appealing to you, or you would chose some different style, b/w, original colors, sepia, etc? I tried many different versions, this one stood out for me, but that does not mean it is the same for the viewers..
5. Any additional thoughts would be appreciated. Whatever comes to your mind

Many thanks for taking the time to share.



Exif:
Camera Nikon D3000
Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 55 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash No Flash

[graciousness]

Hi there,

I guess I'll just give my feedback by answering them in numerical order as per your questions:

1. What do you think of the composition?

The composition is ok. The tilt isn't too bad as it's not really so overdone, however, I'm not a big fan of the background tilt as my brain is fighting to try and correct how it should be. I am tilting my head just a little to try and look at her face, though, and sometimes that's not the best thing. But as mentioned, it's not too bad of a tilt so it's ok.

2. Lighting, exposure, too much, too little? (used available natural light, obviously, as it is a shot of the moment, from the street)

The exposure seems ok. Due to the tones you used, the hair seems to have caught some ambient light reflection and it's more apparent with the blues/greens you toned the photo with. There's almost some potential blown out highlights on parts of her face, but it's not so glaring and it's ok.

3. Are the elements in the background too distracting, or they add to the overall feeling of the image?

Yes. For me, there's not enough blur on the background as my eyes keep wandering to the left side of the image where majority of the background is. They key distraction here, though, is that white chair, being a dominant bright object near her. It is taking away from her as it is brighter than her. You do need to watch out for brighter areas in the background as guaranteed this will always detract away from the main subject.

4. Is the toning/coloring in PP appealing to you, or you would chose some different style, b/w, original colors, sepia, etc? I tried many different versions, this one stood out for me, but that does not mean it is the same for the viewers..

For me, the toning is ok. You do have to realise that this is all personal taste, though, and essentially, how you want your image to look and feel with toning is all up to you. I do love using cooler or warmer tones in my images, but for some reason, I'm just not 'warming' up to this one. Her face, to me, is a little too warm and unbalanced with the coolness of the rest of the photo. Her hair is too blue as it intensified the highlights from the ambient light above her. I do think that this photo could use some 'pop' as it's a little flat for me.

Just needs a little more tweaking - more blacks, I'd use a little vignette to help with the distracting background and pull the focus back on her, pull back on the blue as it's a little too much. Just needs a little more balance but without losing too much of the style you are going for here.

Maybe a sample of the original would help see if some other edit version could be better for you to play with?


5. Any additional thoughts would be appreciated. Whatever comes to your mind.

I'd clean her a little. Is that a wet patch on top of her head? It almost looks like she put glue on there.....if it was me, I'd clean up with either cloning or burn that little spot. Also, on her camera left cheek is a drop of water. I don't think it adds anything to the photo and i'd clone it out.

For me, this photo is ok. If you hadn't mentioned that this is a street photo, I wouldn't have known. Because of the tones that you used, it almost seems like this is an indoor shot with flourescent light above her head. Her face has a neutral expression that really doesn't really draw me in. I would have taken her photo where she is not posing or looking in such a way to the camera, but where she is engaged with either you or something else. Street photography works well when the subject has an expression or is doing some action that gives a little insight to their character that makes you want to know more about the person. It helps even more if you capture them in some nice, contrasting light and shade.

Hope this helps. Am a little big tired tonight and brain is fizzled so I feel that my feedback is a little flat. But I hope you get something out of it, anyway.

Cheers!

Grace

[anniehun]

Grace, Thanks so much for taking the time to view my image and give such detailed and constructive feedback. There's a lot for me to learn from it. Greatly appreciated!

[acephoto]

i think it's an awesome photo. it's striking, and I like the processing. sure, she has a neutral expression but it's melancholy on a little girl's face, I mean call me crazy but that's so unusual that it seems to evoke something other than innocence, which, if you're going for it with children is like shooting fish in a barrel. this is something different.

[ccting]

She looks like a Chinese Girl.. Happy Chinese New Year to you, her & Grace, all.... ;D
Grace how are you going to celebrate the new year..Perhaps organize a free of charge photo session LOL?