Emily - portrait

[DCramer]

Well, nerves aside, here is a portrait of my daughter. I have my reservations on a few things, but would like to hear from you what you think.

edit:
Reviewing the rules I relised i didnt ask specific questions..
- How is the composition of this image and where can i improve on future portraits.
- Does the sepier/desaturation toning work for the image or would strait B/W or colour have worked better.




Model: NIKON D60
Shutter Speed: 1/100 second
F Number: F/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Flash: No

Many Thanks

[Trader]

The colors seem to be washed out and the image looks a little overexposed to me.

[ericw]

I like it. Focus seems on, I like the depth of field. I like the exposure and color, I think it gives it a different feel. Eyes are gorgeous. Maybe wouldn't have had her eyes centered vertically but it's really quite nice I think. The perspective on that line in the background makes it feel like its tilted.

[paulq]

I like the desaturated look. May I ask how you did that in post processing? It made her beautiful eyes really stand out. I was drawn to her eyes the first time I looked at the photo. Very nice focus. I have to agree the line at the back is tilted.

[DCramer]

Thank you for the replies.
@Trader : Thanks, It is a little over exposed due to the post process. I adjusted it and it has better texture now thanks.
@ericw : That blasted line always bugged me. I do forget to check background textures when taking pictures will try be more mindful of it.
@paulq : The colour effect is quite complex. I use lightroom for my pp. for this effect, to be brief, I warmed the white balance, upped the reds, upped the greens, desaturated the blues then desaturated the image globally and finally added a vignette.

[kristin28630]

I'm not experienced enough to critique, but just wanted to say that I LOVE this photo. The pp, composition, lighting, all of it! Beautiful eyes!

[Chip]

I like this very much. It's different and well done.

If I had to pick one thing to change, it would be the cup that she's drinking out of - if it could be a solid, neutral color, that might help. As it is now, all the patterns, colors, etc are a slight distraction to me. Just a minor nit.

And she has gorgeous eyes.

[praline3001]

OK I am going to be the heavy here ~ sorry
First off your daughter is simply stunning. Very photogenic and big beautiful blue eyes!

I think something is really missing in this shot. I am not sure if its in the post production or what ~ I can't lay my finger on it. Your daughter looks two seconds from a wonderful giggle and her eyes look flat. Little girls' eyes are SOOOOO full of glint and wonder and even easy to read a giggle on LOL

I am having the same issue with a photograph of my own daughter so I might be partial with that =/
By the time I like the entire composition from PP ~ I lose what I love about the photo ... the way her eyes really gleam and pop.
Also I *think* her eyes are reflecting some of the wall color as well. Nothing wrong with this but it does wash her eyes out a big. Blue eyes can reflect soooo many colors! All 3 of my kids have blue/green eyes so I deal with this a lot LOL
Maybe if using that kind of background, try putting something blue or green just off camera to try and get her eyes to reflect more deep blue? I love doing this with my oldest as his eyes change color TOTALLY with what he wears. People tease him all the time that he wears colored contacts LOL

As the focus is on the eyes and your daughter has such amazing eyes I think too much pp for this particular photo. The eyes are not popping as much as they could.

[DCramer]

Thanks for the great comments. I really appreciate the input.
@praline3001 - yes the eyes really do reflect everything. The reason for the tinted colour was that the right eye was reflecting the blue of the cup and looked really strange.

going to play a bit more.

[praline3001]

Originally Posted by DCramer

Thanks for the great comments. I really appreciate the input.
@praline3001 - yes the eyes really do reflect everything. The reason for the tinted colour was that the right eye was reflecting the blue of the cup and looked really strange.

going to play a bit more.

I have the same problem with my own little girl. If you check out 2 sets on my flickr account (Savannah smiles and my angel on her birthday) you will see I have a tough time with her eyes reflecting. She has extremely light blue eyes (just like yours) but her eyes do some funky crazy things in pictures LOL As my daughter is 8 ..err.. your going to have to deal with the funky eye thing for a while so you better get it down pat LOL
Here she is reflecting the purple from the flowers in one of the shots. I couldn't do anything with them without making them look fake!


For you ~ its going to be more of a matter of composition and colors in the frame. With those extremely light blue reflected eyes ... if you post pro them .. they start looking fake really quick!!!

You have a great photo ... her eyes balls just look really washed out.