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Critique Me – Eileen Critchley
Lifestyle

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.

Thanks to Eileen for submitting the following image.
Settings: ISO 160, f/2, SS 1/1250

Image credit Eileen Critchley

34 Comments
  • April 8, 2013 at 8:48 AM

    What a sweet picture! I love that look in her eyes, like she’s just about to burst into giggles.
    I prefer bright, warm photos so a little touch of warmth would be nice but that’s just personal preference.

    Otherwise, great shot with great bokeh!! :)

  • April 8, 2013 at 9:01 AM

    I love the colors, her outfit too against the background!

    I don’t think you need to change it too much. I would just warm it up a bit, her face and her hair maybe.

    Great Shot!!

  • April 8, 2013 at 9:26 AM

    You captured such a great shot of this little cutie. The catch-lights really make her eyes sparkle. The background does seems much darker than she does. Maybe lighten them up both a tad. I do like how uncluttered the background is though. Great shot!

  • Maria Snider
    April 8, 2013 at 9:27 AM

    Great photo. Love her little smile. I think I would like at a little more if she wasn’t as centered as much. Rule of thirds. :0) Otherwise great photo! It’s sharp, cute capture, and nice bokeh!

  • Erica
    April 8, 2013 at 9:29 AM

    I love the look on her face, it suggests that she might be up to something. You did a great job with the exposure, if I were to change anything I would not have her centered as much as you do. I would probably move her a little to the left or right to play up the rule of thirds. Love the shot though.

  • Carolyn
    April 8, 2013 at 9:32 AM

    Beautiful portrait. I love the composition. Such a natural shot. I don’t really think it needs improvement but to be really picky, I agree with the others who say about warming it up a little (but not too much) but I am am only an amateur. I think it is a beautiful picture and the background is perfect and the expression on the little girl’s face really makes this shot.

    Beautiful!

  • April 8, 2013 at 9:35 AM

    Great bokeh!

    I would position the subject more to the right, not in the center.

    Nice casual look!

  • Jess
    April 8, 2013 at 9:35 AM

    I love the crispness of the image and the contrast in colours; the dark contrasting beautifully against the fantastic lighting on your subject (and she looks like such a sweetie!)

    I would have liked to have seen the rule of thirds more here, for my liking this photo would have been improved if the subject could have been just a nudge off centre (either direction, you could have emphasised her looking forward by having her more to the right of the photo, or emphasised the background falling away behind her by having her more to the left… I think either would have been effective and added a little more punch to the shot).

    Personally I love the slightly cooler tone of colours, I think it beautifully suits the lush forestry in the background and the bokeh of those trees and sky falling away behind her is simply stunning – great job!

  • Sarah
    April 8, 2013 at 9:37 AM

    Adorable expression. I would love to see a shallower depth of field to make her really pop out. Perhaps a vertical crop as well if you intend to keep her centered. Great capture :)

  • April 8, 2013 at 9:44 AM

    I love the expression on the little girl’s face…so cute! I would rotate this picture to be portrait rather than landscape. It would help with the “rule of thirds” and pull her eyes to the top of the frame. You did a great job on catching the light in the girl’s eyes. Very cute photo!

  • Barbara
    April 8, 2013 at 9:44 AM

    The picture seems very sharp and I love the bokeh. I agree with the others and think it would add more interest if you followed the rule of thirds. I think that is very easy to fix/improve on…getting tack sharp images is the most difficult.

  • Amanda
    April 8, 2013 at 9:49 AM

    She is a great little model. I love the brightness of the image and the times displayed with the trees in contrast with her hair.

    I think the image would be more interesting if it displayed the rule of thirds having her off to one side or the other of the image.

    Great image overall and beautiful bokeh!

  • April 8, 2013 at 9:58 AM

    GREAT bokeh! AND- way to capture the catch-light in her eyes- also really well done! I really wouldn’t change much about this picture…but if it were mine, I’d experiment with cropping (using the rule of thirds) to see if I prefer the crop over the original…maybe you won’t but it doesn’t hurt to try :) Great job on the picture- she’s a cutie!

  • April 8, 2013 at 10:00 AM

    Lovely image. Love the bokeh around that sweet girl.

    In my opinion the image looks a little underexposed, a little dark. It may be an exposure issue or perhaps the vignette just makes it appear a little darker. I might bump it up a bit in post.

    I love her eye contact. This is not easy to get with little ones. Nice work.

  • Rene Hermosillo
    April 8, 2013 at 10:04 AM

    So sweet her dimples & eyes & curly locks! The contrast in colors is great. I am thinking she can be warmed up a tad & maybe not so centered…the bokeh in this works perfect in making her eyes pop in this.

  • April 8, 2013 at 10:15 AM

    What a cutie pie! I love the soft, even lighting across her face! If I had to offer any suggestions, I’d say to warm up the picture a bit, maybe use curves or levels to brighten it up and add a slight red hue. Those catch lights in her beautiful eyes are perfection!

  • Radhika
    April 8, 2013 at 10:17 AM

    Love this picture. Very sharp and has beautiful bokeh. Catch lights in her eyes are making them sparkle. The only thing I would change is crop it so that the subject is not in the center. Love the expression on the little girls face. Too cute!

  • Tina Carlson
    April 8, 2013 at 10:22 AM

    Isn’t it wonderful to have such great subject matter! Adorable expression as the others have said and I agree with the fact that either go vertical or crop so that she is not in the center (rule of thirds thing…) Also, warm it up a bit and Pow! there you have it!!! Great job! Keep on clickin’

  • Scott Fairbairn
    April 8, 2013 at 10:23 AM

    This is beautiful. Her eyes just twinkle and the expression is priceless. I would consider changing to a vertical orientation and going with a tight crop to place even greeateer focus on those features. I think there are a lot of ideas here that might make this great image just a bit better. Very well done!!!

  • April 8, 2013 at 11:02 AM

    AWW! She looks like she could burst into giggles! I love it! The bokeh is great! I would probably warm up the coloring, at least in her little cheeks–make her a little rosier! :) Other than that I wouldn’t change a thing–it’s awesome! Great job!

  • Katie
    April 8, 2013 at 12:21 PM

    Such a sweet little girl! I love the expression on het face. There isn’t a whole lot I would change. It does seem a little cool to me so maybe warm it up a tad. You did a really great job!

  • April 8, 2013 at 12:34 PM

    What great crisp, clean shot. I LOVE the dark burn around the edges because it really draws my attention right to that awesome expression on her face. The only thing I would change would be to off center her a little or change the crop to focus more on her face. Other than that, the contrast of that beautiful green with her outfit and beautiful yellow hair…Love! Great work!

  • Candice
    April 8, 2013 at 1:15 PM

    Love the natural lighting! Wouldn’t change a thing. The gleam in her eyes says it all!

  • April 8, 2013 at 1:18 PM

    This is such an adorable girl, and image! You did a wonderful job capturing a sharp image. She is a beauty.

    I agree with the others on not having the image dead center. I think using a rule of thirds would improve the composition. Also, and this is small, I would love to see eye contact for a more impacting image. I believe that non-eye contact images are great, but here I find myself wanting to connect with her via eyes. Lastly, I would watch the crop at the elbow joint. I would move that up a bit, or if reshooting, crop a little lower.

    Overall, very well shot!

  • April 8, 2013 at 3:19 PM

    Love the light! I might get the perspective from the corner instead of straight on. love the natural expression she’s giving and twinkle in her eye. nice capture.

  • Felicia
    April 8, 2013 at 4:23 PM

    Great little model. I love the catch lights in her eyes and the sharp focus.

    Personally I would have liked to have seen a tighter crop and moved off centre to apply the rule of thirds. Also, maybe have a shallower depth of field so she really popped!

    Still a wonderful photo! Very nice colour .

  • Alexandra
    April 8, 2013 at 5:20 PM

    What a great photo! That little girl is too sweet. I love the catchlights in her eyes, and the lovely bokeh. I might change the crop a teensy bit – her head is a tad bit too close to the top of the frame for my preference. And perhaps a slightly lower depth of field? I would only make very minor edits, though; it’s a fab photo as it is. So sharp!

  • April 8, 2013 at 6:44 PM

    I love this picture! I love the background and I love the catchlights in her eyes. I honestly am having a hard time thinking of something to improve it. I would be interested to see it cropped using the rule of thirds where she’s on one side or the other.

  • April 8, 2013 at 7:22 PM

    I absolutely adore how you captured her personality in this photo and that is hard to do….I would have made it so she is more to the upper right of the photo (rule of thirds)…other than that it is a clear picture without a lot of processing which is appealing!!!! KUDOS :)

  • clare
    April 8, 2013 at 9:48 PM

    i love this photo! her expression, her sparkling eyes, the uncluttered background! it’s wonderful. i, personally, would have placed her a little bit off center. i also would have brightened and warmed it up just a touch! such an adorable shot! great job!

  • April 9, 2013 at 9:07 AM

    I really love her expression in this shot, almost a laugh, but not really!! It’s great :) I really do love the composition, but I agree with the rule of thirds, there are two ways you can achieve this, one is to crop closer to her face, to avoid the limb cropping or you can’t really do it now, but pulling out and seeing more of the what’s going on in the background. But I love the great bokeh in the background and the catch light in her eyes! :D

  • Amanda
    April 9, 2013 at 9:40 PM

    First of all, she is just precious! The only thing I see really is too much light, it needs to be softened a little. I personally love all the greenery behind her. I’m not one of those photogs that crops everything out of the background, I think sometimes the background is what actually makes the picture. :-) Other than that I think it’s great!

  • Crystal Kneeland
    April 11, 2013 at 12:29 AM

    I love this little one’s expression! I think your aperture setting is perfect. Just the right amount of softness in the background.
    The only thing I might have done differently is decrease the shutter speed to slightly overexpose the shot a little, but that is just my personal preference.. I like my photos a little on the bright side.
    Beautiful image filled with a real expression/emotion that doesn’t seemed forced! :)

  • June 21, 2013 at 6:45 PM

    Great photo! She is a cutie pie! Great focusing here, her eyes look amazing! The only thing I would probably do is up the brightness *just a tad* and maybe add a little bit of warmth to the photo. This is a great photo. Her skin looks great, great focusing, and has amazing color to it. :)

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