Friday Photo Critique #14
Friday Photo Critique is our weekly community project, where we publish a photograph submitted by one of our wonderful readers, then ask you all to offer constructive feedback on the image.
After a few days, I’ll update the post to feature the most helpful and insightful comments. You will also be credited with a link to your website or portfolio, so be sure to enter it correctly when submitting a comment!
Quick Ground Rules
- Play nice! We’ve deliberately chosen photographs that aren’t perfect, so please be constructive with any criticism.
- Feel free to offer any type of advice – composition, lighting, post-processing etc.
- You can also link to photographs that you feel offer a great example of this type of image shot exceptionally well.
Without further ado, here is this week’s candidate for Friday Photo Critique!
The Photograph
Photographer: Prashant Joshi
Please let us know what you think in the comments – how would you have approached the scene or taken the photo differently? A massive thank you to everyone who commented last week. The post will shortly be updated with some of the most insightful comments.
The most constructive and helpful comments will be featured on the site, and you’ll also be given priority to feature your own work in a future Friday Photo Critique!.
Enjoyed this Post?
Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues!
By David Appleyard
Join our newsletter!
Create a Tutorial, Get Paid!
Have something to teach the world? Want to earn money doing it? Tutorials, screencasts, and articles published here on Phototuts+ are largely contributed by readers just like you! We'll pay you great money for good content. Find Out More
I think that a slightly (only slightly) more upright head and a smile would work well. The ear showing through is slightly distracting so maybe cover that by pulling back the hair a little.
The pose of the model is’nt very flattering. With the chin and neck bothering me the most.
I agree with the commenter above about the ear, it’s a little bit distracting.
What bothers my eye the most though, is the angle of her back in the shot. I think if this weren’t cropped in so far it wouldn’t matter. Because it is, it gives the illusion that her back is very large.
The model should either turn so that her back doesn’t show as much, or the photo should be less cropped in.
I would have also shot this from a lower or higher angle to give it some more depth, or a nice 50mm lens (a nifty-fifty as I like to call it) would have created some bokkeh blur which would have looked nice as well.
Yeah the ear should be better thought of. I think a closer crop of the face would work for me.
If you crop it where her hair meets her back you get a much better composition and your eye is drawn into the downward mothion of the model. http://www.greenteadesign.ca/art/pictest.jpg
I agree. That composition looks nice.
Maybe not ALL the way to where the hair meets the back (I love that loop of hair going around the neck), but I agree that cropping in on the right would be good. I’d put the crop right at where the neck meets that edge of shirt just where it disappears behind the neck.
First of all… the good. I like the tone and the exposure is very nice. The general framing and pose is nice too. In general, this is a very good shot. I’ve got a couple of small things I don’t like, but don’t get me wrong, I really like this shot.
Here’s what I don’t like. As others have mentioned, the ear is distracting. I think that earring is really distracting too. It’s the highest contrast and keeps drawing my eye, which is great if this is an ad for those earings, but if it’s about the girl, then you should get rid of them. I agree about the angle of the head. The folds in her neck around her jawline aren’t particularly flattering. Maybe if she tilted her head a bit away from the camera too. Lastly, there’s a couple of wisps of hair down her back that escaped the rest of the sweep around behind her neck, and they just seem a bit messy.
Good job though, Prashant! Keep it up!
The girl in photo has a nice profile and gorgeous hair and I think the color and the composition displays both well, but do have to agree with Richard that it would look better if the head was up a bit more and that the ear and the large earring showing through the hair is a little distracting – maybe pushing the hair behind the ear to fully display the ear and earring or removing the earring and adjusting the hair over the ear.
I agree with what everyone said. I’d also like to include that her stomach area is distracting too. Maybe it’s the loose clothing, but it makes her look as if she’s pregnant. (But if she is, more power to her) It would help if the clothes were pulled back and she stood at an angle.
Haha, I was just thinking the same thing – to me she’s either slouching or pregnant.
I also agree about the distracting earring – seems to break the focus. I’m a bit confused on her eyes as well — to me it seems I ought to follow where they’re looking, and yet there’s nothing to see – so the flow needs some more precision as well.
Also, in my opinion this picture needs a more contrasting background — either darker or brighter– I think it would add some depth – as right now it looks like she blends in to it a bit, resulting in a ‘flat’ look to the photograph.
Thank you everybody for your comments and corrections. Its a learning experience while sharing my work with you all.
Regards
PJ
I love the image; I like that it’s not the normal look at – look away from the camera pose. I even like the earring. Maybe because I’m conscious of how My chin looks – I might have chosen to turn her head a little; I mostly agree with cropping a little tighter. I might have changed the background – I prefer a little more contrast; however I was surprised by how much I liked how much the background and the shirt worked together. All and all- I would count it as a keeper.
I give one tip: use a (stronger) backlight
This makes me think of looking down at the bathroom scale after Christmas and feeling, well, unhappy.
The first thing that came to mind was how easy on the eyes this subject is.
I, strangely enough, disagree with most of the comments, very bold for a newbie, but I will call it as I see it.
I love this pose, she appears deep in thought and contemplating something lost or regret.
The second thing that caught my eye is the yellow overtones in the background, the model’s skin color and blouse. I think the white balance has not been set correctly for the lighting conditions but I am sure there are other ways to correct the white balance.
Next was the vignetting. I think vignetting is used to focus attention and when the subject merges with the vignetting, the portrait becomes off-balance, at least from my perspective.
The model should be wearing a dark blouse too create contrast to the background, a color that complements her beautiful hair, maybe a black or red.
Great pic!
I think cropping off the models back not only takes the back out which is at a slightly distracting angle but also changes the shape of the picture in a way that really accentuates the models long hair.
I agree with what has been said about taking out the ear ring and possibly the ear as well, although I am not totally decided on whether I like it in or not, so i had a play and took out both to see the difference. My airbrushing could be done better for sure, but this was just to get an idea.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42909962@N04/?saved=1
I think I liked the stripped backness this edited version gives, it is as if the pose and colours you have gone for offer a more exposed feel and the ear ring almost takes the attention away from that.
Jen
Nice tutorial
nice photograph..
perhaps with different color of the dress and background could give the right kind of emotion, in this case “regret or sad” I think..