Linda

[Angelo]

May I have some feedback on this image?

Thanks in advance.


http://angelo.smugmug.com/photos/206786441-L.jpg

[1220]

For an up close and personal shot like this and esp in B&W, I would have liked to have seen a sharper image. My attention goes to her left eye and it just comes off blurry to me. I would have also liked to have seen her centered in this shot. I love her happy glowing expression and that was captured well, and I like how the background works in this shot.

nice job.

[saurora]

Great expression captured here! I would try moving in for a closer crop removing the tree from behind her head and some of the left side. Place her eyes in the upper third. The flowers are pretty, but a little bright and distracting from her wonderful face. She has a great face!

[schmoo]

First of all, I really love how happy she is! It's infectious - I smile when I see this photo. :):

But what digs at me is the composition. Her eyes are dead center and as a result of that I'm not sure what to do about all the space above her head. Plus the bottom of her scarf is cut off and because it contrasts so much with her jacket and skin tones it's a nice part of the subject. I want to see it!

:thumb

[Richard]

I like it, Angelo. Joyful expression. The composition works fine for me. Those two flowers are awfully bright, though. The face and hair could use a little more contrast, but only if you mask it so as not to increase the contrast of the background as well.

Regards,

[Tanuki]

I think your choice of focal length compliments her very well, the lighting is georgous (and post processed well) and you caught a wonderful expression. On the downside, I think the background competes too much for attention. I see that you went for a narrow depth of field which would normally blur the background suffuciently, but it still looks too busy. I think the problem is that the background is too detailed and contrasty.

I would suggest a simple fix in Photoshop by applying an adjustment layer (masked to only affect the background) to reduce contrast and brightness. I like the settings of contrast = -25 and brightness = -10, but you can use whatever you feel is enough to smooth out the background without causing it to look unnatural. If you have the time, you could get a better result by applying a curves adjustment layer.

Edit: I just tried using Levels Adjustment and I like the result much better than Brightness/Contrast Adjustment. In the Levels dialog box I changed the Input Midpoint from 1.00 to 0.90 and the Output Blackpoint from 0 to 20. And of course I masked to only affect the background.

Mike

P.S. Am I allowed to post a modified version of your photo, or is that against the rules of this forum?

[StevenV]

I like it, Angelo. Joyful expression. The composition works fine for me. Those two flowers are awfully bright, though. The face and hair could use a little more contrast, but only if you mask it so as not to increase the contrast of the background as well.

My thoughts exactly. She's right on the verge of getting lost in the background, bringing up the contrast on her would help pull her out a bit.

[DavidS]

I love the expression.

[Angelo]

Thank you all. I truly appreciate all the great advice.