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 Laureen at Laureen Burke Photography for submitting the following image.
Settings: ISO 1250 f/1.4 SS 1/1600 Taken with: Nikon D7000 and a 50mm 1.4G
I love the rich colors in the clothing and how they contrast against that beautiful golden bokeh in the background. The only struggle I have when viewing the photo is that my eye is constantly drawn to the dark patch on the upper right instead of the girl – it fights over where to look. Perhaps moving her or readjusting your angle would be helpful and/or an adjustment to slightly lighten that area may be an easy remedy. Otherwise I find this to be a very striking photo – especially love the slight lean back of your subject. Good work and good luck!
Amy,
Thank you so much for pointing out the dark upper right corner.
I honestly didn’t even notice it. (Of course, now I do!) This was a completely candid shot of my daughter. We were at the zoo scouting sites for an upcoming wedding. She was tired and had had enough. “The Look” said it all!. I felt like I was seeing her as a teenager. Thank you also for the suggestion of the adjustment to lighten that area. I appreciate your feedback!
I adore your attention to the rule of thirds! The leading line created by the jacket is perfect!
I learned a great tip from an online editing workshop that you may find applicable: use a hue/sat layer with the blues and cyans at 80% desaturated painted in to get the hair and jacket to a clean, black color.
Whatever you said to cue the subject was spot on – her expression is serious and mysterious simultaneously and the bokeh is beautiful!!!
Carey,
Awesome suggestion about the hue/sat layer. I would never have thought of that. I tried (unsuccessfully) to get rid to the blue in her hair. Now I know what to do!
I cracked up at your comment regarding whatever I said to cue the subject. She is my daughter and was was tired and wanted to go home. I told her we had about ten more minutes. And I got that look. I loved that I was able to capture it.
Thank you so my for sharing that editing tip!
Beautiful! Great job with the composition! Only thing I personally would play with would be stepping off the shutter speed a bit so you could lower the ISO. Don’t need the SS quite so high if the subject is still, especially if you could use the wiggle room for your ISO. I would be curious to see how the photo would look if the white balance was warmed up too. I love the pops of yellow sunlight in the background. What a gorgeous setting/time of day!
Thanks, Emily.
This was at sunset. We were at a zoo. The last light was hitting the bamboo behind my daughter and she was in the shadows. IT was a really strange combination of light. I had the ISO because of how little light we had.
I like your idea of warming up the WB.I am interested in seeing how that would change the feel of the image.
Thank you for that suggestion!
I really like tis photo. the girl is striking and mysterious. I love the serious expression and I am drawn to the bokeh in the background. It really draws me and makes me wonder what is there. Like Amy the only thing I am a bit distracted by is the upper right hand corner. For me it is a combo of the dark shadow and the burst of light.
Thanks, Lesley. It is actually a tree trunk and the three horizontal lines are fence posts. (We were on a path in the bamboo section of our zoo.) I am going to try to edit that section out. Thank you for your feedback.
I really like the way your subject is positioned to the right and leaning to the left because it adds tension to the shot that makes it very compelling. Good composition! I also like her facial expression and the darker cooler tones, –it makes you wonder what she’s thinking about. I would have liked to see the catchlights in her eyes a little better. Maybe a little sharpening around her eyes would bring those out. Nice photo, and thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your comments, Benita.
I can tell you exactly what she was thinking:
“Mom! I’m hungry. When can we go home?”
(This is my daughter at the end of a location scout for a wedding at our local zoo.)
I really love this photo! The pose, the intense facial expression, the background bokeh all make this an amazing shot! It seems to me that the warm background and the coolness of the girl’s hair and jacket at competing with each other. I am more partial to a warm photo so this might be personal preference, but I would probably use the HSL slider to remove some blue from the photo. Thanks for sharing this!
Thank you Bethney!
It sure is strange lighting, isn’t it?
She was standing in the shade as the last rays of the sun were hitting some bamboo behind her.
What a striking picture! The composition and leading line from the jacket are very nice. I think I would try to warm up her skin tone and take out some of the blue in her hair and jackets – it is such a strong contrast to the warn background. Thanks for sharing, great photo and beautiful model!
Thank you, Rachel.
I’ll give that a try!
I honestly love this photo. The bokeh, the light, the composition, is all fabulous.
My suggestion would be to not add as much contrast. The overall contest looks good, but on the subject maybe ut could be painted back a tad. You are losing some of the details in her eyes, coat, and hair.
I love her expression and I think you really nailed this. Beautifully done.
Thank you for your kind words and suggestion, Kim.
Sorry for all of the typos. Dumb autocorrect!!!
I love this photo! The contrasting colors between the bokeh in the background and her dark hair and jacket is gorgeous! I know it was mentioned a few times already, but the only thing I would try and tweek is the blue tinge in her hair and jacket. Great job for such a spur of the moment kind of shot :)
I like the dark sci-fi artistic “fire raging behind her” look. I think the “hold the coat collar just below the eyes” secret agent look would have made her eyes POP and looked cool. So much for your innocent little girl, huh? :)
I would love to get that amount of bokeh in my pictures. The headroom seems a little small but I like the dramatic tightness of the shot too. One thing I found distracting was the reflection off the buttons on her coat. Overall great picture. Makes me want to try more shots when my 4yr old daughter doesn’t feel like smiling.
I love the drama in this picture, it’s striking! I love the use of negative space and the bokeh!! I feel like something is missing, something I would of done is pulled out for more context of what’s going on. I also like the deep, rich colors, they just draw you in!
Beautiful photo. Does not look like a zoo background :-) after staring for a few minutes the only thing I can come up with his the bright spot right abover her head in the upper corner is tade distracting. I love the colors, position, crop, etc. it is a great photo!!! Wall worthy! :-)
Sorry for all the typos!
Your daughter is adorable! I love all about this shot–especially the bokeh. For me, unlike many of the other commentors, the jacket is distracting. I love the blue-blackness of her hair and the jacket–it really compliments. I would have liked to see her full face. Her eyes are wonderful–yes, there seems to be a glimpse of the teenaged girl. Great job!
Well, I’m a little behind in the critiquing, but I only, (just now) discovered this website, and I’m in love with this photo. I can see how you would want to remove the blue, but can I just say that I really kind of like it? I’m learning to appreciate the “mistakes” that make a photo unique. The play between cool and warm tones is beautiful. My only critique would be one of curiosity. I’m wondering if you tilted the angle ever-so-slightly to the left and aligned the eyes to be perfectly horizontal, if it wouldn’t make them stand out even more. Really, lovely artistic photograph. Thank you for sharing.