Wonder of Xmas...before and after

[rutheglen]

Camera Canon EOS 500D
Exposure 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture f/5.0
Focal Length 52 mm
ISO Speed 400
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash On, Fired


Ok, Time to bite the bullet, so to speak. Feel a bit cheeky even offering up something to you lot - having looked at the photos on here already, I feel like a bit of a happy snapper, but here goes anyway!!
I took this shot, with no time to mess with settings. I worked on it a bit with photoshop, cropping it down and desaturating (is that a word?!) the background. I like it, but feel it is lacking something - and her eyes bother me, but I don't really know what to do with them?

Please critique pp (and anything else you think needs it!) I'm ready, The wine is open and ready to offer me support if necessary!

[katia]

"Selective coloring" is largely considered a tacky gimmick that most new photographers seem to be drawn to. For the most part, I don't like selective color. In fact, I can't recall a single image that used selective coloring that I did like, so there's that.

While this shot does sort of make you wonder what she's looking at, I think it would have had far more impact if she was making eye contact with the camera, that might be what is missing.