I think this is a lovely image and really love the emotion captured here. I am not sure what your settings are, manual or auto so it’s hard to really make a comment. I think I would have dropped my shutter speed down a little bit so there isn’t so much light on the subjects but other then that little tweak, this is a great photo! Keep up the good work!

Think the pose is super sweet think there should be more light on the subjects, and I love the expression on her face cause even posed (not that I am sure on that) it looks like a true loving moment :)

I really like the lighting in this photo. It gives a golden halo effect around both of your subjects. I think I would have zoomed out/backed up a touch to get all of their shoulders and her hair in there. Overall, I think it is a beautiful photo that evokes lovely emotions.

I love love love the way the image is composed and what it captures. The only thing I would do is increase the saturation and contrast in just a tad for more visual pop (but that could just be the way it looks on my PC). I love this photo ~ really there’s not much to improve upon!

I absolutely adore this picture Lisa. It has the emotion all over it. I would have loved to have seen this picture in black and white perhaps? I’m sure that would just enhance the detail. Great job… as a client, I would be happy with this in my personal album!

I think this is a beautiful shot. I love happiness this photo captures. The only change I would make would be to maybe add a hint of vignette to the image to “pop” the couple a bit, but that’s a creative edit piece. Naturally, I think you did a beautiful job of capturing love using golden light.

I love the depths of field in this photo, and would agree re zooming out a smidge to get all of the ladies hair in the shot. Also love that this looks like such a candid “in the moment” kind of shot and not posed. :)

Love the sweetness of it all… Looks very natural! A lot of people love the “lighter” images…. I like making them pop a bit post processing by using the dodge and burn tool…. Here I’d use it to lighten their faces but darken their hair a bit / highlight the “backlight” to differentiate the line between them and the trees… Maybe even use it to work on the trees some to give added depth to the image? Definitely adding this pose to my toolbox!

Great photo, gives me a fuzzy feeling :) I would have played with the color a little or made it black and white to make it a little more dramatic. Color seems a little flat. But otherwise great composition and definitely helps tell a story!

I love the pose in this photo and the emotion it captures! I maybe would try to adjust the tone of the woman’s skin a teeny tiny bit? It looks a smidge green to me but honestly, I’m just SEARCHING for a critique with that! I think the pic is otherwise perfect and that light?! GORGEOUS :D
Wonderful job!

I really like the composition of this photo, you can really feel the emotion of the couple. For my taste, the background is just a tad to light. Other than that, great job.

I love the moment you captured! So sweet and tender! I feel like there are a couple of skin coloring issues that could be addressed – a little too much pink in his, and a little too much green in shadows on her. I LOVE the backlighting on them!

I love the genuine expression/emotion in this photo. Also the backlighting is lovely. I agree that if you had backed up just a little to get the rest of her hair it would make the photo a little more complete. Also, I would have exposed to get the faces a little bit lighter. Such a pretty photo! I think it would look fantastic in black and white as well!

Wow, what a sweet moment that you captured! Love the composition and you really waited for that perfect moment. If I stare at it, I notice skin tone and a little bit of flatness. I would adjust skin tone, maybe add a nice creamy filter to go with the beautiful backlight, and pump the contrast just a little bit. Overall, this is a wonderful photo with so much emotion and meaning. I keep scrolling back up to look at it, and I get all goose-bumpy. Great job!

I love the emotion that was captured! I love the halo and the golden light on the couple. I would agree with zooming out to get all of her hair in the image but honestly to me it really doesn’t make that big of a difference to me. You captured the emotion and that’s what it’s all about! Great job!

Overall, I really like the image; especially the reactionary facial expression. I also like the angle of
the greenery framing the woman which works well with the backlighting. The critique would be
the light in the upper corner is a little to bright (like having the sun in your eyes) so my eyes automatically move away to the black shirt which shouldn’t be my focus in this pic.

Great photo! I love the natural moment you captured! The only thing I struggle with is that the colors are much more richer in the background than the colors in their faces. I agree that maybe this picture would move to a “wow” in black and white. Overall it looks like you have a great eye!

I know I’m suppose to make a compliment sandwich with something I would change in the middle but I honestly can’t think of anything I would change! Love the colors, DOF, comp, emotion! Just a great capture! :) well done.

I think this is a lovely image, beautiful emotion and backlighting.

My main critique would just be to tweak it a little in your processing; add some contrast and a touch of saturation to make it pop a little more. Perhaps check their skin tones as they seem a tiny bit muddy. But I love the mood and feel of the image, so those things are just minor!

I like this image a lot. The emotion is certainly there. I might have zoomed out some maybe capturing hands being held to accentuate the raw emotion. Perhaps rule of thirds and shift your subjects just to separate them from” the world”. The soft coloring is really nice and lighting is a nice sift touch. Nice job!

I love the lighting. I love how the sun is touching the rim of their hair creating a halo effect. I think that the pose is very natural and it really captured their emotion. Overall it’s a great photo I’m not sure I would change much at all. The only thing I could think about is maybe stepping back and getting a full body shot so we could see the whole story and to capture more of their body language. Great job!!

Love this photo. It’s hard to tell about lighting and color on my cell phone. The only thing I might do is color the bright spot behind her head…if possible. I like it.

Who am I to critique anyone..ha ha

Here goes, I love the Composition, from my old age 73 years of age and still learning, it appears to me to be just a tad over exposed. I think I would like it if dropped 2/3 or maybe one stop.

Also, think upper right corner could use blur color verse’s the whiteness, that seems to bring my eyes to that area and distract my view of the beautiful young lady.

Thank You for posting and having thick skin for all our comments.

Have a very blessed day.

tom

I love the way you captured their love. You really captured how he adores her and she loves being loved by him. A great job on the DOF, which makes you really focus on the couple. I think the photo could use some more contrast or it might be beautiful in black and white. Overall, a lovely well-captured photo!

I absolutely love the “glowy” soft feel to this picture! As others have noted, I would have given a bit of saturation to pop the image but this really is a nice picture overall! :)

I have just started learning how to shoot in manual mode, so I do not have a lot of experience with settings, but I love how you caught this special moment. A lot of people are loving the photography with the light on or behind the subject that gives that glowing look. I am not going to say what you could of done different because the photo has already been taken. I do not see anything wrong with your photo, but if it was mine I would definitely play around with editing software. See what you could do to make the people pop a little more. What would it look like in B&W or sepia. You can offer a few options like that to your customer and see what they like.
Again I love this picture, I think the background it well blurred so you can focus on the people. Nice job!

Lovely expression on her face. I would have definitely backed up a bit to get all of her hair and more of their shoulders in the image. not a lot just a little bit further back. I would have left a bit more space around the top of photo and sides. I love the lighting I think its lovely. Great composition. Lovely image.

Great image! I love the softness of it, and how smooth it is. Their skin has some green cast that you could fix with a magenta layer in ps. I’d love to see more of a pull back shot like this but Im sure you have many images to choose from so thats really not much of an issue. Great job, love the sharpness and the cute couple;)

I really love this image and the emotion it conveys! So natural and a great capture! I think when we capture these moments–sometimes it is just that–a capture and thus not always ideal in positioning and getting the whole body or all of the other aspects we want to portray. This is my first time every critiquing someone else’s image on this forum and feel quite inadequate as I feel as though I am constantly learning and needing improvement. But here goes my attempt. It is a very small critique as well and may be my own taste and style and not what you are looking for but…..Since you can’t go back and reposition or capture the photo any other way the only thing I can think to do to the image is crop in more. I like the idea of off centering the photo with the man near the left and the girl more close to the middle. But it is REALLY a great photo! I do think it would look awesome black and white too! Thanks for sharing and being brave to have critiques! Ü

Hi Lisa,
First off, I really love the intimate moment/ gesture and light in this image! The dynamic diagonal and visual sweep as our eye follows “the kiss” from top left to the bottom right and then back up his shirt and neck, to start again, is great!!!! I think this image would be a good candidate for B&W conversion. I would then play around with adding a little definition and contrast to the figure’s faces, subtly though. I would also burn the upper right corner slightly so it doesn’t draw as much attention. His top wispy hair curl is a touch close to the frame for my taste (I would have added a tiny bit more space there), so I would probably try blurring that and also blur her hair slightly where the lower frame cuts it off. Folks have suggested stepping back and including more in the frame, which would be nice for the two things I mentioned above, but there would then be the problem of the larger dark mass (flat, dull) that his shirt would present (which might mean a change of gesture with her hand on his shirt). So, I would have probably only added a touch more space to the top. I would burn both their shoulder highlights that touch the frame edges (so the eye isn’t distracted and lead outwards).
I think this young couple will love this image – a memory to last a life time!

Having to find something I’d do differently is a bit tough but all I can find is I mind have left a tad more headroom, my favorite thing about this photo is the fact that their eyes are both closed, oh and even though this may have been out of your control I wish that either they both had a silly grin on their face (like her) or they were were no h a bit more serious (like him).

This is such a wonderful picture – it looks so natural and not at all forced… they look very comfortable :)
One the one hand it seems a tad bright to me in the top right corner especially, but I think if you made it a bit more contrast-y and deepened the saturation just a little, that would help… but then I look at it again, and I love how they are washed in the light… so I can’t decide!
At any rate, great shot. Such a sweet photo!

I love the expression they have, very natural and flattering for both of them. The composition, to me, is a bit boring, maybe a wider view (if possible, depending on the background and environment) would add some interest. I love the light and the beautiful bokeh, too, and all in all that’s a fabulous shoot. I’d love to have it printed in my home if I were your subject!

Thank you for all of the comments and critiques. I specifically chose this image to for the critique because I like the moment that was captured, but I don’t love the skin tone. I agree with the bump up the contrast a bit, croppy the hair issue, and that it could be a great candidate for black and white. I’m just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for making the skin less muddy and flat. :) I’m no pro, just a hobby for me. So my post processing skills have a limit. :) Thanks again!

I love the emotion captured here, and LOVE the rim lighting. My only two critiques (skin tone and hair crop) have been covered – but seriously this is a lovely shot. This is the kind of photo I would be thrilled to take and just as thrilled to have of myself and my husband. Cudos!

I love this photo! The composition and storyline are fantastic, and the light is gorgeous! I would have added a tiny bit more contrast and warmed up the skin tones a tad, but other than that it’s perfect…great job! :)

The image is super sweet, and I really love the sun burst in the corner. The one thing I would have done is have them turn more towards each other for more of a romantic gesture. But overall, it is a really sweet image and can easily see the love.

Love this!! I would be so happy to snag a lovely selfie like this! Awesome work. I had to find a super picky critique just so I could leave you some love here :). Since you already nailed focus, expression, and light so beautifully, my only idea for improvement would be to pose with your shoulders in more of a v next time? It would just communicate more closeness and connection (which you clearly have). So beautiful. Loved your blog, too. Now I am inspired to go for a selfie with just my husband, too! Any tips on bribery? :)

They are adorable and I like the pose. I think I would have zoomed out a tad to get more of her hair in. Maybe a little more depth of field. Very sweet shot.

Love the colors and edit! I would have pulled back a little bit, as to not crop of his shoulder so much. Great job making the couple look natural and relaxed! :)

I LOVE the light in this photo! The haziness adds to the emotion of it. I think you could have backed up a little bit to include their shoulders and some more greenery to make them pop out of the background even with the haze. your subjects appear comfortable and relaxed which is a major accomplishment!!! Nice photo!!!’

I So

What a beautiful image. There is a ton of emotion and I love that about it. My only suggestion would be to crop it in a little tighter like cut off part of the heads *gasp* to see what type of image that creates. Wouldn’t mind seeing her forehead bumped a little to the left of the image by a tighter crop. Also maybe a little play on contrast will make this pop more. The light from beyond and in the hair is amazing.

What a beautiful picture. I love the way the picture tells the story of their relationship, and you really nailed the backlit glow, without overexposing the picture. I also love the processing, and the accuracy of their skin tones. The only think I would think of that could give it more impact has already been mentioned several times here–back up a little so that his shoulder isn’t quite so cropped–it would give the picture just a little room to breathe. But this is just a very slight detail, and even if you did incorporate it, this picture still has impact. Thanks so much for sharing!

Love the emotion on her face. Would have moved subject and camera counter-clockwise slightly to improve the feel of the lighting. Color is well balanced, not too vivid, but not hiding. Might have tried to make him laugh a bit. He looks a little stiff. I love the intimacy gained by cutting off the outer shoulders.

I LOVE the sweet emotion these two are sharing. You can feel the love they have for one another, and I think that is key to a great image. The warm tones are spot on, and exposure is good. As for critiquing, this is what I would’ve done…
-Color balance looks a little off. I’d fidget until the tones are corrected.
-Up the exposure using curves, just a tad.
-Burned background so the couple pops a little more.
-Womans face looks a little green to me (may be my computer), so I’d fix her skin using color balance. Add magenta, and maybe some yellow. Adjust opacity
-Man has a few red splotches on his skin. I’d use my quick selection tool to highlight only the reddened areas, and add cyan through a color balance layer.
-Up the contrast

As for the shooting aspect, I would recommend zooming out a bit. If your client wanted to print this in an 8×10, the image would be cropped and I don’t imagine it looking good.

Above all, this is a wonderful image. Very intimate. :-)

SHOOT!!! Forgot to mention one more thing! I wanted to suggest using a higher aperture, and adjusting your other settings accordingly. I would’ve shot this at a 5 to get everything super crisp, then applied a gaussian blur to the background if the image needed it. Remember, just because your lens can stop down to 2.8 doesn’t mean it should. Most lenses operate to it’s fullest at a higher f-stop.

So sorry to post twice!!

hi! i dont think this is a photo that needs much critique, its pretty spot on technically. Any critique would be subjective. personally i would choose to step back to get a touch more in the photo but other than that, awesome job!

Love the pose and the light! With this much natural emotion I like to go b&w so the focus is only on the emotion, not distracted by her bright shirt or skin tones. And I think very very small vignette helps to polish it. LOVE the composition! Great job!

Great emotion in this picture! I adore couples showing their affection for one another. A little more light and a little more color saturation are two suggestions – change your shutter speed to 1/100 to 1/200 or try either positioning your subjects with the sun shining more on their faces or use a flash to add some light to their faces. Overall, great posing and great emotion!

This is a gorgeous photo. I love the lighting. I think you did a perfect job of placing them to keep the light just perfect. The only thing I think I would change is to have more of the background. I would like to see them in the bottom left of the photo and fill the frame with some more of the lovely green foliage and light. Otherwise I think this is a gorgeous photo.

Your subjects look happy and very much in love, as I assume would be your intent! The outline of the foliage in the background seems to follow the contour line of the female model, almost blending into her hair color, so I might darken the upper right quadrant of the image. The closed eyes add romantic detail to the image, great moment captured!

I adore this image. The pure contentment you have captured on her face has drawn me into the image & I am enjoying looking at it.
My only suggestion would have been to pull back a little to get the rest of her hair in the image. I would love to see it in B&W. I think it would make an amazing B&W image. Well done. :D

They both pop out of the photo & make me think aaaarrrrr LoVeLy …….

First reaction was “a very pleasing photo”. The light is soft and flattering. I might have changed the composition a little to get more of the trees/bushes in the background and eliminate the white spot in the upper right corner as that is a little distracting. The great bokeh on the trees gives the perfect background – you get the feel of the outdoors, but it’s not taking away from the emotion of the subjects.

I LOVE the sweetness captured in this photo! I too would love to see the subjects a little brighter and pop a little off the background. I absolutely love the bright softness of the background. Gorgeous!

Such a sweet picture of this couple! The only critique I can think of follows a lot of the same comments above – I would have maybe pulled back to get a bit more of her hair and their shoulders. I love the overall light though – that glow is gorgeous!

What a great picture! I absolutely adore backlit photography so I love the background colors and blur and the soft light on the whole picture! Two minor comments are that I might have tried to remove a bit of the red from the man’s face and had him tip his head down more with his nose on the woman’s head so it doesn’t look like his face is smushed into her head, but on the otherhand, you don’t want to force a pose too much and lose the fantastic sentiment this captures. Well done! And did I mention I love the backlighting??? :)

I love this so much, it’s hard to even find a critique! I love the hazy, beautiful light, I wouldn’t change a thing there. If I were to come up with a critique, it would be to add a little saturation and contrast around their shirts for more pop, and if I were to reshoot it I’d include the bottom of her hair. Truly, though, I think that this image is just about perfect.

What a beautiful in the moment picture! I also love the backlighting. The only thing I would change is the skin tone and the couple look a little flat. I am also just a hobbiest so still learning my self how to fix those problems. To me it is a beautiful photo, great job!! :)

I adore this image, it feels as though you captured a natural moment, not just instructing the couple into the pose. The skin tones on my phone look a little red to me, but the backlighting is beautiful.

I love the emotion in the picture. It’s such a natural, beautiful pose, and the people are gorgeous! my one critique is that I would make the faces just a tiny bit darker; it looks a little over-exposed to me. Other than great, great job! I love the softness of the background and and the way I’m drawn into the faces into the photo. Great job!

What’s to critique???
It’s just lovely!

Please keep in mind that I am just an amateur myself :) I love the picture. You truly captured the love and sweetness between the two. Perhaps you should try softening and taking a bit of the red hue out. That or try in a soft B&W. I tend to like using B&W because to me, it projects more raw emotion… That’s just my opinion though. Overall, it’s a great picture. Good job!

Love this picture a lot! I love the lady’s expression. I feel like thought that the guy is a little flushed out. Other than that, wonderful picture!