Soft blue stare
by markwiley

Comment by jazul02:
i think, adding a little more contrast and sharpness here could add a big impact..

Morning bird symphony
by markwiley

Comment by Adz:
shame theres no birds in the center, nice catch though

Morning bird symphony
by markwiley

Comment by jmritz:
Beautiful light and motion.

Soft blue stare
by markwiley

Comment by timfythetoo:
Hey Mark. I gave this a 6. You have some good things going on here. I like that it isn't hyper edited and the pimping you did to her eyes is nice and clean. My tendency is to go borderline overboard and I would have probably done just a bit more sharpening on her pupil to make them pop a bit more (sounds gross that I want her pupils to pop). I like the angles of the scarf. brings a couple of good diagonals in and the patterns on the material bring a cool texture with out being too heavy. A couple of things that I think of that could improve the score on this image. First is the color on your models face. Working with veils (at least in my limited experience) is challenging in that the color and/or tone of the veil is often translated to the skin. What this gives you here is a skin tone around her cheek and jaw that is bluish-green. That can be taken care of in postprocess with various layers and masks. I think that if her skin tones were skin tonish all the way around, this image would be a bit more striking. The other thing (and this is one I have made several comments to on other images) is the angle at which you shot your image. You have a pretty much straight on level look. Had you come from above a bit your model would have had to look more intentionally into the camera and allowed her eyes to stand out even more. Shooting from above would allow more of the whites in her eyes to frame the pupil and then stand out more and possibly make more of a connection with the viewer. If you look at some of Librodos straight on portraits they still tend to have the models face down slightly causing the eyes to have to look up to connect with the camera. Gives them a more intentional purposeful feel to the gaze rather than just an "ok I am sitting here, take my picture " kind of feel. All that said, you have a lovely image here (just checked out your portfolio - is this your 13.5 yr old?) Is it DPC eye candy? Nope. But it is an image that you and your model should be pleased to have - DPC be darned. ;)

Morning bird symphony
by markwiley

Comment by mariuca:
Veridical testimony. I just hoped for, hm, more crispiness perhaps? 6

Soft blue stare
by markwiley

Comment by Luci11e:
very nice, I love the shadow produced from the veil, the eyes are nice and bright, there is a sense of mischief here

Soft blue stare
by markwiley

Comment by ScooterMcNutty:
i think what would make this better, is that your subject be more in focus. It seems very soft. Your eyes are really done well and colors look good.

Soft blue stare
by markwiley

Comment by JonoTucker:
would have bein nice to see more of the subject in focus

Thirteen and a half
by markwiley

Comment by sjhuls:
Mark I can't believe I missed commenting on this. Such a great shot and well deserved ribbon. It left me thinking "man why didn't I think of that!"

Morning bird symphony
by markwiley

Comment by tjmueller:
Feed them, then shoot them... :) Outstanding work, a great fit for the challenge. Should do well.