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Critique Me-Lenora
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Remember:
Read How to Critique a Photo
Make a critique sandwich – something positive, something you would have done differently, something positive
My rule: no improvement tip = deleted comment
This will benefit the person leaving the photo critique just as much if not more than the person receiving the critique.

Thank you to Lenora for submitting the following picture.
Settings: ISO 400, SS 1/1000, f/5.6

15 Comments
  • April 30, 2012 at 11:01 AM

    I love the overall feel of this photo. The wind blown hair, the specks of sand, and the backlight. However, I would love to see the exposure and/or brightness increased a bit, as she appears underexposed. I also feel the warmth of the photo is too much, as she gets a little lost in the background. The warmth has also caused her skin tone to be too yellow/orange. I am not 100% sure what you f-stop was, but I would like to see a sharper focus on her eyes.

    The lack of eye contact works in this shot and helps tell the story, it gives it a whimsical feel.

  • Maria Snider
    April 30, 2012 at 12:50 PM

    I really like how this little girl has all the sand in her hair and she is looking away. It has the feeling of a warm summer afternoon. Really great. I just think that the colors are a little too warm. Her skins looks too orange. I love looking at all the little details like the hair on her face, the flower pin in her hair and the “matching” earrings. Super cute!

  • April 30, 2012 at 12:58 PM

    This photo makes me want to head to the beach! So summery and fun. I do however feel like the photo may have been over edited. Possibly think of toning down the warm tones just a tad. I love how she is looking off the page. Makes me want to peek around the “corner” and see what she is looking at.

  • Kira
    April 30, 2012 at 1:09 PM

    I love this picture! The composition draws me in, and makes me ready to let my kids play in the sand and water. It does look very orange to me. I don’t know if this is the white balance or editing, but the color doesn’t look natural to me. I like how sharp the picture is… I love super sharp eye lashes!

  • Crystal
    April 30, 2012 at 1:10 PM

    Love the subject..her wind blown, sandy hair, looking away from the camera…really captures the feeling of that moment. I agree with the others about the coloring…I would love to see this in black and white or cooler tones. I just love the stillness of it all..like this is her after a long day of playing at the beach…

  • Amanda
    April 30, 2012 at 1:18 PM

    I love the way she is looking off in this picture. The composition really has you focus on her face and makes me wonder what she is thinking about. At first glance I couldn’t tell if the temperature of this was off or done on purpose. I think I would rather see this in BW or maybe a vintage preset if you wanted kind of a more unique look. I of coarse don’t know what the colors of this was or if highlights had been blown, but this is such an awesome picture with the wind blowing her hair and nice DOF. Keep playing around with it, you have definitely got a keeper!!

  • April 30, 2012 at 1:48 PM

    I love the overall feel of this photo. It is so nice to see a photo that sparks a reaction. I want to go to the beach.
    I think that if she was more to the right side of the frame with more negative space on the left it would really compliment the emotion she has on her face.
    I really like the desaturation of color on this shot. I do think the warmness is a bit too much for my taste. I think you were definitely on the right track because a regular black an white wouldn’t do this justice. Maybe just a haze or tint of color would give it great effect.
    Beautiful shot. It has me intrigued and drawn into the story behind it. Great job.

  • April 30, 2012 at 2:47 PM

    I really like the composition, it conveys a lot of emotion. I also like that it’s sharp in the eyes with a shallow depth of field and there is a lot of texture to her wind-blown hair. It has a nice story and leaves much to the imagination. Personally though, the coloring is too orange for my taste.

  • April 30, 2012 at 9:48 PM

    What a pretty and dynamic photo! I like the composition where she is off to the right and looking a something out of the frame. It draws the viewer in, and makes you want to look over your shoulder to see what she is so interested in. I think that the color is a little warm–I’m not sure if you processed it like this on purpose, or if the white balance needs correction, but her skin tone doesn’t look quite natural. I’d also like her eyes to be a little more sharply focused. Maybe a little smart/spot sharpening with a brush round her eyes could help. I think this picture would look nice in a warm black and white, or maybe even sepia toned.
    It would be fun to play around with this picture and try different processing choices.
    Thanks for sharing!

  • April 30, 2012 at 10:32 PM

    I love the over all feel too, you can feel her expression in this photo, it looks like she was working hard at something and then something happened. I do love the color, but I think I would have converted it to black and white for a deeper feeling. But I love how you captured this precious moment with the sand, sweat, and wind because this is what really happens at the beach!

  • May 1, 2012 at 3:24 AM

    This is a gorgeous photo! I love the moment you have captured. I love the wind blown, sandy hair. I love the composition. I love that she isn’t making eye contact. All of these things are just wonderful.

    I also think the image is too orange. I think you can achieve warmth with less golden tones. I would process with a light hand. A black and white conversion would also be lovely. The image speaks for itself, so you do not need to over process.

    All in all this is a treasure. Well done.

  • Lenora
    May 1, 2012 at 11:25 PM

    Thank you all for your critique, comments and suggestions. I really love this picture of my daughter and was hoping you saw what I saw in this photo…and you did. I would have to agree it looks like I did over edit this picture; however it doesn’t look this orange on my laptop. I do tend to over edit. Thank you all for your comments.
    ~ Lenora

  • May 5, 2012 at 10:00 PM

    What a precious picture! Other than being a little bit too brown for my taste I think it is just lovely!

  • K Chap
    July 16, 2013 at 1:20 AM

    I like the color tone chosen. I would brighten it up a bit and remove the white spot on her cheek. I also like the little burst of color that her hair piece provides to the photo.

  • October 10, 2013 at 10:51 AM

    This photo really takes me right to the beach! The details of her hair blowing away from her face and the sandy bits in her bangs makes me feel like I’m sitting right there with her digging in the sand. What a great shot! I think the sepia is a nice choice, but I would try black and white and bring the contrast up just a touch. A really nice composition!

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