This is a really cute picture and I love the moment it captures. I think one thing I would have tried to do was to get more of the reflection in the mirror, it would have added another cool dimension maybe. The use of the rule of thirds though is really good, I like where she is positioned in the picture! :)

I love how real and detailed this photo is. You can tell it wasn’t staged at all. I love the little girls face too ;) I personally would like to see maybe more of their reflection in the mirror or a little more of the person fixing her hair? The lower hand cutoff is a little awkward. I think that had you come over a little more to the left the exposure on the little girls face would have been a little better with less shadow. The rest of the rooms exposure looks perfec though and very crisp. Great job! What was she getting ready for?

I love the idea of this picture – capturing the details of getting ready and the sweet little girl face in response to the hairspray (we probably still all make that face). Great job using the rule of thirds, just consider facing the subject into the rest of the frame (in this case, she would need to be angled the opposite direction). You also might try this photo in black and white; it might help remove some of the background distractions and emphasize the girl’s face. Love the idea of using the mirror to show reflection!

I absolutely love the moment this captures–how many memories from my childhood that brings back! The look on her face is priceless! I would love to have seen more of her reflection (of the back of her head) in the mirror, to show the front and back of her “do”. Other than that I think it’s a great picture that tells a story–not only of getting hair done, but of everyday life in the bathroom! (I personally like all the stuff on the counter, because it keeps it real.) :)

What a face – I totally make the same one, even when I’m spraying on my own hairspray! My two biggest suggestions have already been mentioned – first, I would love to see more of her reflection – the mirror is so blank and has a bit of her reflection, but not much; second – I would love to see her “facing” the rest of the image as a PP noted. I love the idea of black and white to minimize the distractions – and really focus on her face. Bathroom lighting is really tough, but it looks like you nailed her complexion well – too bad for the arm shadow on her face from the hairspray. Overall, this is a great snapshot of a fun moment.

You definitely captured a cute moment here! I agree with a previous commenter, that changing the angle so she’s facing into the frame would have made the image stronger. I’d also shift camera angle to get the back of her head in the photo too. Right now, the mirror doesn’t add much to the photo, but could with her reflection in it. I may increase the exposure a little too. It is a precious photo and you captured an adorable memory!!

I love how the little girls eyes are closed in the picture. It reminds me of me getting my hair down…definitely love getting all done up but not wanting to get sprayed or burnt (if there was a curling iron involved). I would have removed some of the towel/basket in the background perhaps even the toothbrush to lessen distractions. I love how part of the reflection is showing and the mom carefully holding the girls chin.

I truly enjoy that this picture is REAL! I personally think that the things on the counter do not take away from the picture, but rather I think they help tell part of the story here about this sweet girl getting all prettied up for some special event. I think this picture might be a bit more interesting if I could see the reflection of the back of her hair. You did a nice job of working with the lighting conditions by increasing the ISO to 800. There’s not much you could have done about the shadow on the little girls face. I think choosing an f-stop of f5 was a good choice as well so as to get the entire picture as crisp as possible. I’m curious though if choosing a lower f-stop to get some blur in the background might hide any graininess from having to increase the ISO to 800?

Her expression is priceless! I love the moment you captured. I think it would be nice to have her upper body filling the frame, or th mirror reflecting her more.. I like that you put her on the left side of the shot. Nothing could be better than this sweet moment caught forever!

Love the facial expression on that beautiful little princess! it is just precious. I like the setting and also the mom’s hand placed gently on the girl’s face. You took the photo at exactly the right moment…I love it! I might like to try the picture in black and white, just to draw more attention to the subject and the beauty of the picture instead of being distracted by the colors. I also think it may have made the subject stand out even more and add even more beauty if the aperture had been lowered as well. The only other thing I can think of that I would have changed was maybe showing more of the woman than just two hands…they are kind of awkardly cut off. other than that, I think everything is perfect and absolutely breathtaking! Great work!

I love the capture of the little girls expression, however, being a details person, I would have probably included a little more reflection in the shot, just to create a little more interest/perspective. :)

I also love the capture of her facial expression. I would have liked to have seen more of the reflection too, repositioning a little to the left may have done that! I also would have liked to have seen a little sharper focus on her face–it seems just slightly soft. Thanks for sharing!

This is a fabuolus photo! I love the candid feel to it. The one thing I would change is moving yourself to where there is less distracting things in the background. Other than that, this is a wonderful and beautiful photo!

Great shot! I would have just changed the angle a little so you could capture more of the reflection in the mirror. I feel you have captured a great memory :)

This is a great picture! Great moment captured.
I really like the possibilities of different reflections you could have captured: in the big mirror and it the small one as well… and I think you didn’t use them enough.

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions!
This was taken in preparation for my 4 year old niece’s first ever ballet recital. :)

I love the composition that you were going for. I think it would have had a little more impact if you had captured more of the reflection in the mirror. My eyes tend to want to wonder around the photo as some of the other elements are distracting. Love the lighting as well. Her scrunched up face is to cute!

I love how this photo takes me back to my many years as a dancer and getting ready for a recital or performance. It is great how you captured this fun memory of your niece’s first recital. I think this photograph could have been a bit better had that stuff on the counter particularly the towel and basket been removed to creat a bit more negative space. Someone in an earlier comment mentioned that the hand looked a little strange the way it is cut off and I find my eyes constantly drawn to that part of the photograph because of the extra things on the counter. I don’t think the hand cutoff would have been quite as noticeable had the counter been a little more empty. I’m pretty impressed that you made the lighting in the bathroom look so good. I’m not sure I could do that in any of my bathrooms. Great picture of a memorable occasion! Thanks for sharing.

Love the idea of this shot but would had removed the clutter and filled the frame with just her and the mirror…