Flowers in her hair
by Paul

Comment by patio127:
Congratulations Paul !

Flowers in her hair
by Paul

Comment by SaraR:
A wonderful photograph of a very beautiful model. I lovethe way that despite the heavily stylised pose the overall effect of the photo is of wholesome naturalness. Really, very good indeed.

Ropeswing
by Paul

Comment by pixelpig:
a great swing, & a happy boy. Sweet shot.

Ropeswing
by Paul

Comment by digifotojo:
Kinda dreamin bout summer and school startin soon... Nicely done!

By the light
by Paul

Comment by Jutilda:
Perfect title. I love all the nuances of the light and shadow play and then the focus right on his eye. Nice going.

Flowers in her hair
by Paul

Comment by macrothing:


Critique Club Critique

First Impressions
Pretty. Tones are lovely and work well. Flowers are getting lost.

Photograph Information, Technicals & Composition Review
Just read your Photographer's Comments - for me, there is no over-softness, I think it works well. I at first wished there wasn't so much darkness (flowers aside for a moment), especially at the bottom of the frame - but it is growing on me the more I look at the image. Save for perhaps the bottom left, and only because it is not even with the right and for a centered image such as this my eyes want that visual balance. I think with those darker areas 'brighter' - either by pp or with the lighting 'in situ', would also be good, just 'another image'.

As I inspect the darker areas closer, I can discern some very slight 'issues' on the left in some of the darker areas. There is something that appears to be lace or fabric of some description just above her left shoulder, but that could be intentional.

I like the way her hands are posed and the expression on her face. The nose is maybe a fraction too soft, but it still works in my opinion. I like your composition.

I am sorry I cannot offer technical lighting critique. I would recommend seeking opinions from the knowledgeable ones at DPC in this area - and there are many, if you would like a little more insight into the technical lighting aspects of your image.

Comments, Score & Placement Review
3 out of 159 and a score of 7.13 - excellent of course. Sounds like you would/should be proud of yourself by not making something that is embarrassed by the work of other portrait photographers at DPC.

Several of your in-Challenge comments offer some good portrait observations, of course the resulting variations would change the image quite a bit, so as long as the final image is pleasing to your artistic vision - that's the main thing. Certainly some good pointers for future use though.

Summary
A stand out portrait that jumps up at you to look at. I do wish for the flowers to be seen more, both lighting wise and texture (that is if they are real - and looks like they are).

Flowers in her hair
by Paul

Comment by ErikV:
Excellent job! Congrats on the yellow.

Bugzeye
by Paul

Comment by Charlene:
Love the processing with this. VERY cool, grabs my attention and only a tad yucky :)

Flowers in her hair
by Paul

Comment by millsa:
This is a stunning shot, congrats on a well deserved ribbon. You've made excellent use of that umbrella, if this is not knowing what to do with lighting, I'd absolutely love to see what you do when you get a clue :):)

Flowers in her hair
by Paul

Comment by karenk:
Congratulations on your yellow ribbon, beautiful image and model.