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Critique Me – Portia Silver
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.
-If you would like to have an image critiqued be sure to read How to submit an image for critique.

Thanks to Portia for submitting the following image.
Settings: ISO 200 | f/5.3 | SS 1/160
DSC_0156-001

30 Comments
  • Jennifer
    December 8, 2014 at 10:29 AM

    What a beautiful natural smile! That’s the kind of portrait I love to see, not forced. If its possible, I would have maybe opened up a bit more so you had more background blur and perhaps turned her a little bit more to her left so a bit more of her face is lit if that’s possible, but I don’t know, there could have been an ugly garbage can just off to the side that would have been in the picture otherwise. That always happens to me. :) I like that the whole photo is natural and not over-edited. Also I think your rule of thirds was good too, since the background enhances the natural beauty of the photo. Nice work!

  • Mandi
    December 8, 2014 at 10:34 AM

    Gorgeous shot! You caught beautiful catch lights in her already beautiful eyes. The composition is good. I just think the WB (needs warmed up a bit) needs adjusted and your exposure needs brightened (her face) a bit. Also, I would have turned her right should just slightly towards you a bit, but other than that, it’s a beautiful shot!

  • Mandi
    December 8, 2014 at 10:34 AM

    *shoulder

  • Debbie
    December 8, 2014 at 10:36 AM

    I like the composition, and simple background. I would have either used a little fill-flash or increased the ISO to light up her face a bit more. You can tell she’s relaxed by her smile and I also love the rim of light on her hair.

  • December 8, 2014 at 10:42 AM

    I really like her smile. The colors in the picture are beautiful and I agree with previous comments about composition. I just think the eyes could be sharper. I do not know how you focused, but I would move the focus point to the eyes. Also, you could have used a reflector (doesn´t have to be a fancy one) so the face would be a little bit brighter. I love the backlight!

  • Becky
    December 8, 2014 at 10:45 AM

    What a beautiful portrait, probably of a senior! You have captured a lovely smile and overall expression, which can be really difficult. I would probably open up the aperture a bit to soften the background a bit more and then drop the ISO to 100 if you have it for some even better sharpness in her face. I also think I would warm it up just a touch in post-processing, as a mom of three very fair boys, it can keep them from looking too washed out. The backlight was also a nice choice, I think you saved yourself some tough shadows and it gave a lovely rim light to her hair and face. Wonderful shot!!

  • Sarah M.
    December 8, 2014 at 10:46 AM

    Beautiful shot! I might have opened up a bit to blur the background more and bump the exposure up just a bit, but other than that, good composition, and I like the natural feel of it overall! Good job!

  • Vanessa
    December 8, 2014 at 10:50 AM

    I love the rim light and the composition. You have beautiful catch lights in her eyes. I feel like the WB is off if you have LR I would get the dropper and click on her sweater( it should be white right?). I would also brighten up her face in either LR or PS. You are doing great! :)

  • December 8, 2014 at 10:57 AM

    Great composition using the rule of thirds. Beautiful, natural capture of her smile. Her face looks just a little dark. Try encreasing the exposure in your processing software. While shooting you could have increased your ISO a bit. Great image! I love the kiss of sunshine on top of her head…

  • david
    December 8, 2014 at 10:59 AM

    I like how you have matched the background to the same brightness as the subject. This keeps the BG from being too dark or too bright, which is all to common.

    I would brighten the face and adjust white balance.

    I like the fact she is not smack in the middle of the image, though I would crop a tad closer to get that tree in the far right out.

    • david
      December 8, 2014 at 11:01 AM

      I forgot to add I love the use of the sun as a hair light. It is sometimes hard to find a place that allows this along with a shady background.

      Well done.

  • December 8, 2014 at 11:09 AM

    I Love it and agree with all above, even love the negative space…. I’d like to see her face brightened up a tad, and maybe warmed up a bit… other than that her expression is pure and genuine, with good composition, and the hair light is to-die-for. Great job.

  • Jo P
    December 8, 2014 at 11:24 AM

    Great backlight! What I would do is pull the highlights a little bit to the right and mute the color in the background a little bit (the high contrast green background seems distracting). I also like the texture and skin tone.

  • Jess Ziegler
    December 8, 2014 at 11:26 AM

    Your composition here is good! The entire photo seems to have a green tint and I especially see it over her face so Id check white balance. Also, it doesnt seem to me that the photo is in focus. I cannot tell exactly where it is falling but I can see her face in general is not in focus (especially watch that the eyes are in focus!) I would also add a little more light to the photo. Her face is a little dark – just for my liking. She is very beautiful and I like that you haven’t used flash or over edited :)

  • Nichole
    December 8, 2014 at 11:30 AM

    I love the natural look of the model; she looks very casual and relaxed. The only thing I really would have done differently is some color correction to make the image a little warmer, as the cool blue hues don’t quite suit her. I love the natural lighting and the sharpness of the model in contrast with the blurred background.

  • Whitney
    December 8, 2014 at 11:43 AM

    I love how you kept her in. 1/3 of the picture, it looks very good. I would maybe see if you could get her in direct sunlight to avoid the darkness or shadows on her face. I loved the location and the model. Looks very natural and beautiful!

  • Caitlin
    December 8, 2014 at 11:51 AM

    She really captured the beautiful smile of her subject but I would agree that it would be nice to have a little more light on her face using some flash to counteract the direction that the sun is hitting her. Beautiful photo regardless!

  • Angela
    December 8, 2014 at 12:25 PM

    It looks like you used your light well! I like how the rim lighting separates her from the background, and she has nice light in her eyes.

    I would bump up the exposure to brighten her face. If you have Lightroom or ACR (comes with photoshop or elements) you can also adjust the white balance to make her skin warmer instead of bluish by moving the slider. There’s also a slider to adjust the tint so you can make it less green.

    I like the background! It’s pretty and there’s nothing to distract us from her face.

  • Melissa
    December 8, 2014 at 12:53 PM

    I love the composition and the model’s smile. I am no pro, but I think you could make this perfect in post processing, I think that if you just warm the photo up that would help with the exposure and then to make the model stand out from the background you can bump the contrast up a little. It would also be nice to see her face just a little sharper too. Beautiful shot!

  • Dixie
    December 8, 2014 at 1:10 PM

    Nice natural smile and composition. I agree with Debbie on using fill-flash to brighten her face. The white sweater has a tinge of blue..I would have changed the white balance for a slightly warmer feel. But other than that, you captured a genuine emotion and that is lovely in photography.

  • Courtney
    December 8, 2014 at 1:22 PM

    I really love how natural the model looks and love her smile. I agree with the above and would warm the photo up a bit it seems a little cool and brighten her face to have her stand out a bit more, overall really nice composition.Beautiful photo!

  • December 8, 2014 at 1:36 PM

    This image is well composed, I like how the subject is off center with a shallow depth of feild. I think using a bit wider aperture may help brighten it overall while increasing separation from the background. Also, using a reflector to bounce a little extra light onto the subject would help the image success. The subject appears comfortable and natural. The hairlight from the sun looks fabulous.

  • Cyrus
    December 8, 2014 at 2:47 PM

    Love the overall composition and the fact that you shot into the direction of the sun. Looks like you should have spot or center weighted metered to proPerla expose the face. Also, need a stop or so of + exposure comp to insure the sweater would be a true white. Nice simple background with what appears to be a very natural smile…!

  • Liz Glebus
    December 8, 2014 at 3:06 PM

    Love the composition (rule of thirds) for this image!! Great job! I would warm the image up and move the green tint slider a little bit more to towards the magenta slider (not too much though, don’t want it to be purple). Also, I would brighten her face up. Play around with the tone curve in LR and use the bump up shadow slider in the basic panel or adjust using the curves in PS. I love the backlighting and how she has a halo of light around her. Love the catchlights in her eyes as well! Great job!!! :)

  • Debb Cozzi
    December 8, 2014 at 3:19 PM

    The composition and backlighting are lovely. I think you could have used a larger aperture to blur the background. I would also recommend using a reflector to bring more light to her face. You can still up the exposure on her face in post processing by using a layer mask. One other really minor thing I would recommend is to adjust the crop so that you eliminate that white tree trunk on the right hand side of the frame; it is a minor distraction. With just a little “post processing magic” this photo could be really special. (Clean edit and bump up the contrast a bit). I love her sweet, natural smile.

  • Katrina
    December 8, 2014 at 4:14 PM

    Lovely photo, beautiful colors and gorgeous subject!
    It might just be my monitor, but the photo looks a bit fuzzy – I’d love to see a more crisp picture, with the subject in sharp focus. The offset is great, as is the background blur – and I love the backlighting on her hair from the sun. Great shot!

  • Kristen
    December 8, 2014 at 10:20 PM

    I love the composition of this picture and the simple background. I would crop it just a little bit to get rid of that distracting tree on the right side of the picture. This picture seems a little cool to me and also slightly underexposed. Another thing you might want to do in the future is watch for shadows–you can either reposition your subject (or yourself) or use some fill flash or a reflector (even a white piece of paper/cardboard would work). Nice work!

  • Carrie Maricic
    December 9, 2014 at 12:04 AM

    Nicely done, I echo the composition is great. However, I would definitely check your focus as the photo seems a bit fuzzy. I would also open it up so there’s more background blur and your subject can pop. Keep up the good work!

  • Sharon H.
    December 9, 2014 at 10:46 PM

    Gorgeous photo! I love her smile, the sun highlighting her hair and that she is off to one side (rule of thirds). The only critique, which is really minor and more personal preference, is that I would crop out the brown tree on the right that is a little distracting from all the beautiful green. Great job, thanks for sharing and helping me to grow too!

  • Felix
    June 25, 2016 at 12:43 PM

    Lovely picture! The rule of thirds is nicely respected, but I think the photo would be much more appealing if the aperture was stopped down to f 2.8, which would produce a lovely bokeh. I also suggest the use of a Lensbaby to make the photo more creative. Congratulations!

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