Christmas Portrait

[LNicholls]

Hi There

This is a candid portrait of my Sister in Law that I took on Christmas day.
I have only recently joined this site and this is the first picture that I am posting in this section.
Can I ask for critique on the composition and lighting please?
This photo has not been altered at all.

Camera Sony a300 - 50mm prime

Focal length:50mm
F stop f/1.4
Exposure time 1/80th sec
ISO - 320
No flash

[ksell]

good on you for taking the plunge.
I am a hack so take this with a grain of salt if you like.

I like your composition and that you have "space she is looking into" i kind of want to see the top of her head though.

Re: the lighting. i think it is flattering but maybe a little too on the yellowy side

i would imagine she'd be very happy with this shot!

[sdstone00]

The image is slightly out of focues. It may be because you had the lens on f/1.4. When you are this close to the subject you only have about an inch or so of area that will be in focus. Be sure your focus point is on the closest eye in this case. The composition looks good. The white balance settings in the camera didn't adjust for the tungsten lights (made the image yellow/orange.)

[LNicholls]

Thank you for your responses.

Ksell, looking at the picture i totally agree with you with regards to the exposure being on the yellowy side. I was sat right next to her at the time which is why I didn't capture the top of her head, but that point is still valid and I will not make that mistake again.

Sdstone00, thank you for the tip regarding the aperture. I'm relatively new to using such a wide aperture setting and got a little carried away. I will be more aware of my focusing ftom now on. As for the white balance, that is another issue to look at.

Your feedback has been constructive and I can learn from what you have said.

Thanks again.

[matthew.olmstead]

Another consideration for the composition is the subject's hands. That is her knuckles are to hard on her chin. Also, the thumb tucked in the fingers is distracting.

[cherrygirl]

With respect...the lighting is way off. She is orange and that's really not flattering on anyone. Learn about white balance to fix that problem.

Also the focus just isn't sharp.

Keep working at it!