Photo Critique #124

Photo Critique #124

on Feb 17th 2012 with 13 comments

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. It’s a great way to learn more about photography, express your viewpoint, and have your own image critiqued!

Quick Ground Rules

  1. Play nice! We’ve deliberately chosen photographs that aren’t perfect, so please be constructive with any criticism.
  2. Feel free to offer any type of advice – composition, lighting, post-processing etc.
  3. 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

Photo Details & Inspiration

  • Canon Rebel T1i
  • 50mm
  • f/1.4
  • 1/4000
  • ISO 100

This photo encompasses my adventurous, boundless relationship with the model. In order for us to acquire this location, we had to squeeze through a fence, as it was in the hub of a construction zone. This lady will forever be the summertime of my soul.

Photographer: Nicholas Brooks

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 most constructive and helpful comments will be featured on the site. Interested in submitting your own photo? You can do so here!

 
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By

Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

I was raised in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. After high school, I left for Western Kentucky University where I obtained degrees in photojournalism and cultural anthropology. I am currently employed by CityBeat, an arts and entertainment weekly in Cincinnati. The work I am doing here is very rewarding and I suspect it will continue to be. I am available for freelance work in all areas of photography.  

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  • Red Hoar

    Nice composition. The brightness of her eyes is framed well with the dark veil. This makes them pop. Her stare is reinforced by the “arrow” made by her elbow. It makes the viewer look to the right to see where she is looking. This creates movement.
    The depth of the picture is magnified by both the depth of field and the color. By blurring the background, the illusion of depth is generated. The contrast between the warm and cool colors also adds to the depth illusion. The warm (orange) near her head comes forward, while the cool (blue) by her elbow recedes. These all bring depth and helps with the movement of the photo.
    Very effective.

  • http://www.bushtography.wordpress.com Bushtography

    I think this is a really nice shot. Great the expression and mistry in the face and seemingly all important catch lights in the eyes.

    The area that needs a little work for me is the brightness of the arm and the background to the right of the shot is a bit distracting. I think that could do with being darkened down.

  • William Borklund

    I could not pull my eye away from the elbow. This beautiful face is all we need to see. The background on the left and the right only serve to take away from the face. Crop the picture. The lips need a little light so that we can see how they add to the mood of the picture. You are lucky to have a model like her.

  • Angela

    Great shot. Love the emotion on display. I’d probably crop it a little bit tighter. I’m finding that yellow strip a little distracting.

  • Lukasz

    I really like how the veil covers her face so you have to look at the eyes to catch the mood. It’s very mysterious. And the bright colors in the background really add to the mystery. The dark veil, the bright colors and her expression make a nice contrast.
    Beautiful shot!

  • Tom

    It almost looks like she has a beard in this picture. Also the arm seems to be coming out of nowhere

    I think another angle would have made this a much better shot.

  • http://callieferman.com Callie Ferman

    I agree with bushtography, the right part of the photo (arm and background) are quite bright and take away from the “mysterious” quality of the woman’s expression and her dark veil. I think it could be darkened quite a bit and would improve the photo a lot.
    As far as your subject and the “communication” of the picture – I love it! It is very intriguing and has a great mood to it.

  • http://www.phoozl.com Harald Johnson

    Intriguing and unusual shot. Also agree with Bushtography in the need to darken the arm in post. It’s the brightest thing in the shot and pulls your eyes to it. Easiest thing would be bring the brightness down on the entire background outside of the veil. For me the fingers are a little distracting sticking out of her head, but I guess you need them to give a reason for the raised arm. And they’ll come down with background darkening. But nice job.

  • krishna

    Nice composition.Colors distracted me form the theme(horror).I think there should be less coloration.Also i think that light is more.Intensity.

  • Thad

    Nicholas,
    Left arm and knuckles on head are very distracting.
    I don’t care what she’s looking at, I want to know what she’s thinking about. I think that is where this portrait is going.
    Might just be my old eyes tricking me, but it looks like her left eye is not quite as sharp as the right.
    I can see that the pattern on the veil might be tough to work with, but her dark red, voluptuous lips need to be accentuated to complete the portrait.
    Overall lighting needs more control. The light to her left needs to be muted to match up with the light behind the veil. Her chin looks like a big bruise. Too much highlight on forehead and under right eye. Needs softer light.
    She has a strong, beautiful jawline. Work with it.
    She has an Audrey Hepburn neck, long and delicate. Accentuate it.
    I would love to see her in properly lit black & white.
    I can see why she is the ‘summertime’ of your soul. She appears to be a natural model. You don’t need magic. Just proper lighting.
    Keep on snapping.
    Thad

  • Thad

    additional comment:
    Krishna,
    How in the heck did you come up with the “horror” theme idea?

  • http://me.zing.vn/apps/sv2012 SV 2012

    The lips need a little light so that we can see how they add to the mood of the picture.
    I want to clearly see her lips more !

  • http://www.wix.com/simonabarbu1/simonabarbuphotography Simona Dumitru

    quite a nice photograph. the composition with the veil on her face, her expression and the hues compliment each other and are quite pleasing.

    I also like this picture from your Flickr photostream.
    quite beautiful for a mysterious, whismical quest.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/cometappears/7476085598/in/photostream