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 Amy at Amy Marsh Photography for submitting the following image.
Settings: ISO 160, f/3.5, SS1/200
What a sweet couple! I think backing up the camera a bit would frame them nicely and I would brighten up the girls face a bit.
I like how it almost looks like she doesn’t realize he is kissing her shoulder. I love that about this picture the most. I think this would be great brightened up a bit & would make a great B&W photo. Very cute picture overall :)
I love backlighting. Only thing I would like to see if her face being brightened up a whole lot. Keep in mind next time you could lower the SS or use a reflector in front of her. She’s a pretty girl.=]
Love the composition and the little pop of color from behind her ear :) I think a reflector would have worked great in this shot, or turning her head just a bit more to catch the light!
Adorable Couple. One of the most important aspects when learning photography is understanding “light.” Pay attention to the light at your location. Do you see the top of her head is very bright and over exposed, while her face is dim / grey-ish and under exposed? To get more consistent exposure, try shooting in open shade. Also try backing so your couple is more a part of a scene rather than filling the frame so fully.
Jenny is right, when talking about lighting. You should use a reflector and add some light from left side – carry on the key light. Now the girl seems to have a black eye.
I wonder what is the message of this picture? For sure they are posing. She obviously teases him. At first it looked that he is hiding behind her shoulder. After looking better, he seems to be desperate, and she is just smiling or something. I bet, you didn’t mean that on purpose? How about the flower? The photographer should correct everything before sooting.
I personally like more horizontal pictures. I would go more closer and crop the down part of her. At the same time he gets more blur with f/3.5.
Really cute couple! I love the natural smile she is wearing and the cute idea of having him kiss her shoulder. I would definitely bump up the exposure so the skin tones are lighter and warmer, and perhaps move the camera back and slightly to camera right to get better expression through a little body emotion too. I love the way you kept the light on her hair and not on her face!
You captured a lovely moment here. I agree with the comments about the open shade and/or reflector to light up her face. I would also consider a horizontal image that only contains their heads and of course her shoulder. That is the power of this image for me. Again, I think this is a lovely moment, well-captured!!
A very special moment captured, well done! :) For me, a touch brighter on her face and reduce the brightness on her hair. There is clearly good light around, so perhaps bouncing some of that towards the couple with a reflector.
Really nice positioning of the couple, its playful and kind of shows an intimate moment, nicely done. I won’t say anything about the dark face, because it’s been said, I would like to focus on the colors, too many bright colors that distract, the green in the back, her blond hair, her lipstick and the flower. Why don’t you consider de-saturating the green in the back and dime a little bit her red lips, that will give a better focus to the moment, maybe highlight her eyes a bit on Lightroom to be able to see better her blue eyes.
The cropping making her right eye to be on one of the rule of third points helps you tell the story, which is very nice. Good job.
Very sweet moment that you captured and I agree with the other’s that backing up just a bit to see more of the overall moment and brightening up her face a tad more. I love backlit pictures and they can be tricking…I know…I have had many that needed tweaking! I myself, would have toned down the brightness of the flower and lips, but that’s me, I am immediately drawn to them rather than the moment. Very cute couple!
I love the pose and expression, I know it’s been said a lot but I think this photo would benefit from a bit looser framing and a bit brighter on her face. I think a reflector would have made a huge difference, or again, open shade. I truly love the overall shot, very cute.
Love this!! I really like that he is involved in the photo but the focus is on her. I agree with some other commentators that her face could use a bump in exposure :) What I would do is spot meter on the shady side of her face (possibly even the shady portion of her nose), adjust exposure appropriately, re-focus, and snap. Great job on the composition, imo :)
I love the idea with him kissing her and the colors are great! I think you could have had her looking down at him and make it horizontal. . she a beautiful girl and you captured a moment she will forever cherish!
Wow, honestly I think this picture is pretty amazing! It shows the sweetness of the girl, and the passion the boy has for her all at the same time. The only thing I would think of changing is I would have taken a sec to tell her that her hair was curling up on the inside, I know that is one of my pet peeves with myself and my daughter. Other than that I think this image is pretty amazing. The lighting is beautiful, the subject is amazing, it’s just a great pic! I don’t like the idea of couples constantly staring wondrously into each others eyes (yuck!) so this was an awesome pose. Great job!! I’m in the minority here, but not every single picture needs to be bright and sunny all over, real life happens in the shade too. I think the shading on her face is amazing, it’s actually more pleasing/flattering to her face to not be so bright. There is nothing wrong with shadows in photography. I love how the light is skimming off her face in just one area.
The picture is very cute and I love the back lighting. I wish that the face had more lighting on it which I would fix with a reflector. I also think the picture would look really great as a black and white. I love the subject and her man kissing her shoulder. Very sweet… you captured it nicely!
I love the composition of this photo and the lines. The one thing I wish I could change about it is that her face is in a complete shadow. Next time, since you’re working with adults here, I’d have them spin around at the edge of the shade that they are sitting in. Also, make sure that you are not blocking the light source and that you aren’t wearing excessively dark clothes that might be reflecting a muddy shadow on her. Also, this picture looks a little noisy so I’d run a noise action on it and make sure it is properly exposed. This girl has a ton of character. The little accessories and her smile really bring out the personality. Great shot!!!
What a lovely photo! I personally would have loved to see more brightness in her face, especially the eyes. I do love how he is a bit out of focus, with all the attention on her. This lovely pose has so many possibility angles to it too!
I love the eye contact, the tender moment, your composition, and your choice of depth of field. The color is a little oversaturated for my taste, and I too would prefer more light illuminating her face, but those are the only things I would suggest. :-)
I love him kissing her shoulder, very cute pose, or candid moment. I love my photos bright, so I would have brightened up her face a lot more. B&W photos really tell something about an image, I think this would be a great one for making it b&w, which would give it a classic, yet subtle feel to the image. Very cute picture!
Thank you guys SO much for all the great critiques! I’ve learned since taking this I need my monitor calibrated :/ the professional print of this shot and some others tells me they are much darker than what I see. Any who – I guess I need to invest in a reflector! anyone know of any good ones on a budget? I like the ones that you can fold up, but haven’t a clue as to where to get them! Thanks again ladies – you girls rock!
Any camera store will have reflectors. Amazon.com has a variety: Westcott is decent quality and affordable…as low as $10-15 for a small 5 in1 reflector. I’d go a bit bigger than that but… You can also just cover a piece of cardboard with white cloth or use a piece of Styrofoam..anything that is white will work nicely.
Beautiful shot! I think if you would have turned them a little more towards his right it may have captured the sun on both of them rather than just her and backing up a tad bit would have framed it nicely. Great shot otherwise!
I love this sweet moment captured! I think the picture might be even better if it were lighter & brighter. Super cute dimples on the girl:)
Great job with the posing-I know I have trouble in that area, but it looks like you’re just full of creative poses :) Def invest in a reflector! I just got one myself! Having it there to create soft light makes a world of difference! Nice color pop with her flower and lipstick in contrast to the white clothes! Well done!
Neat idea for a picture! I think that if you had backed out just a tad it would have seemed more like you were looking into their intimate moment, not right up on it. Because of all of the contrasting colors, this would be more powerful and moving in b/w. Again, great photo, I know the girl in it must cherish it!
I really like this posing idea, she doesn’t seem to realize he kissing her shoulder. I think it needs to be a bit brighter and maybe pulled back a bit. I think it would help the focus be more on her and the act of love being shown. I love the way her head it turned, it really shows off her dimples. Good Job!
I love the sweetness captured in this photo. It says how simple love can be. I would have maybe cropped it to square up underneath where her necklace ends. There seems to be a lot of extra at the bottom that can take away from the focal point. I would also lighten up her face a little bit, the shadows are a little deep. This would be a great photo in black and white. Again, such a sweet moment captured with the body angles. It does not looked posed at all, which I always say is a win.
Okay I LOVE the side lighting on the girl!s hair and how the purple flower catches some of it. There are two things I might change 1- I think a wider aperture, like a 2.8 or wider, would have given a nicer/softer look while not losing the important subject (the girl) but softening the guy in the background. 2- in post processing, I’d consider maybe brightening the photo a little bit because her face is a little dark and her pretty (blue?) eyes are being hidden. Or…you could even try getting the side lighting on the side of her face that isn’t guarded by her hair. Overall though, I think it’s an original pose and fun photo that I’m sure your clients will like!
Overall an amazing photo that captures young love. I do not mind the shadows and slight under exposure of her face so much as I think that can be subjective, however if you would like to have a slightly brighter look you could try slightly increasing your ISO say to 200. The thing that catches me is that it appears that she is looking to the left (at you?) cutting her eyes, I might have moved to the right so she could look directly at you or have asked her to look at an object in that direction as it takes away from the intimacy of portrait when she is cutting her eyes. I have to continually watch out for this in my own photos. I truly love the location the green in the background is beautiful nice choice.
I think your picture is sweet. I like the affection shown, I think I would have pulled back just a bit though to allow more of the scenery into the frame. I also feel like her face may need to be lightened a bit, a reflector would be great. Overall great picture!