penny for your thoughts

[mrscott]

shot with a canon 40d at 1/250 sec, f/10, exp -2/3, iso 250. I really like this pic of my wife and I dont really know if theres any way to make it better. Im fairly new at this so what might look like a good pic to me might not to a experienced person. Any ideas? thanks

[natek313]

The first thing I noticed was the lighting. It's throwing all sorts of shadows on the right side (relative to her) of her face. That's quite distracting. Plus, the brim of the hat is throwing her eyes in shadow, which doesn't help.

I like the crop, but the lighting could be improved upon.

[mrscott]

I like the fact thats theres a shadow on her face i was trying for that, the hat well i could go either way with that one i kinda takes away from the pic but adds a sort of mood. thanks for your input tho

[nategesner]

I agree that the shadows on her right cheek are distracting and not distract from her face. Shadows that are even, like from window blinds, can enhance the image. Shadows that are irregular shapes, like leaves, are more likely to distract. At least that's my experience as an observer.

The eye shadow is OK, but I would prefer to see her without it. She has nice eyes and you should be highlighting them, not hiding them under the brim of her hat.

It's an attractive photo. These are just suggestions on how you might make it better.