Please smile ... please?
by dsadites

Comment:
This is exactly the kind of look my wife gives me when I try to take her picture! LOL!

Falls
by madhatter

Comment:
I dunno... it just doesn't fit the theme for me. I've seen portraits of animals and thought it was nice "outside the box thinking". But a waterfall...? It's a beautiful image, just not what I would call a portrait (which almost always is strictly of humans).

P.S.
Just so that I know that I'm not totally off base, I looked up the word portrait in Merriam Websters Online Dictionary and found this definition:

1 : PICTURE; especially : a pictorial representation (as a painting) of a person usually showing the face

Bonito
by Nitin

Comment:
Shouldn't that be bonita ... the feminine form of the word? (ok, I confess, I don't speak spanish which is probably what you meant ... but I do speak portuguese fluently and in portuguese the word would be bonita)

ENOUGH of the language lesson. ;-)

Nice lighting. Looks like sunset light with its warm rays. Love the colors, and the shallow DOF. Expression seems natural rather than posed. Good luck in the challenge!

all in the eyes
by gtp1164

Comment:
The eyes are wonderful. The rest is just a little too soft, though I love the colors you've got here.

Deep Thinker
by Fyzarl

Comment:
Fairly nice lighting... but the shadow from the nose is very distinct (sharp edges) which means a point source of light rather than a large softbox was used (or else the diffuse light was too far away from teh subject). While you generally worry more about soft lighting for women than for men, in this case, I think the hard line is drawing just a bit too much attention, especially since everything else looks so well done. Anyway, that's my "nit" for this image. Otherwise I like it a lot. The colors, the sharpness, the contrast, etc. Good luck in the challenge!

Lady With A Pearl Earring (An Interpretation of a Classic Painting)
by JunieMoon

Comment:
I apologize for not recognizing the painting. My one critique of this interpretation of it would be the use of shallow DOF. I think shallow DOF can work very well in a portrait. But I believe you generally want the near eye to be the one in focus, rather than the far eye (in this case, her right eye appears to be more in focus than her left).

The Italian
by aKiwi

Comment:
I'm one who's not afraid to crop into someone's face or hairline... I think it often is to good effect. In this case, you've missed just a "sliver" of his ear which makes it look more accidental than purposeful. So that, is my minor nit. The rest of the image is WONDERFUL. Nice candid expression on his face. Great lighting, excellent use of shallow DOF while preserving the ambience. Good luck in the challenge!

Shy
by Nusbaum

Comment:
Cute girl. Nice use of shallow DOF. Good sharpness in the eyes where it counts. Nice coloring. A little more "three dimensional light" could be helpful, but this is a really nice natural light photo. Good luck in the challenge!

Nakia II
by banmorn

Comment:
I lovethe color of her skin and the fact that you didn't plasticize it with PhotoShop. I think a lighter background could have complemented her a little more, but the "roughness" of the background serves as a good contrast to the softness of her skin. Well done. Good luck in the challenge!

Youthful
by Chilly0999

Comment:
There's a hard white line all along the left edge of his face (his right side).