My Brown Eyed Girlby
debitiptonComment by Artyste: Hello, and greetings from the Critique Club. Hi Debi! I'm honored to be doing your critique.
Initial Thoughts
A lovely and classic portrait.. and OMG! Skin texture ;)
Composition / Content
What can I say? You've nailed a wonderful composition here, allowing for both a strong sense of of the person, and a strong feel for her traditional outfit. Usually I would suggest cropping more from the top, but in this case, it really works to give us the connection in costume. Nice job. For her expression, it looks just a little bit forced, and I get the impression she was a tiny bit uncomfortable for whatever reason at the time of this shot. Just remember to always keep your model (and yourself) loose and comfortable.. chat about things, ask about their day.. that kind of thing.
Background
Nicely out of focus. The one issue I personally have with it is that the green is just a little off-setting and not very complimentary to the coloring. Work with what we have though, I know this. I also can't really visualize what *would* look better right now. Also, with DPC just having it on black is good for a few higher scores. (if being rather dull).
Camera Work / Technical
Perfect DOF IMO.. You've got the wrong value in the aperature setting.. oops? But I'd say you were using.. f/4 - f/6 -ish? Anyway, a great job there. Exposure is perhaps a tad dark. For portraits like this, underexposure by a half-stop is usually ok (and recover in post), to control blown highlights, but I think with a darker skinned person, it might also be ok to experiment with a slight 0.5 EV over-exposure as well, and drop levels if you need to. Anyway, just some suggestions. Your focus is very tight as well.. The fabric just jumps at you.
Digital Processing
First thing I want to say is that the colors in the costume and the skin tones are just fantastic.. they're strong, dynamic, and rich. Absolutely beautiful work. Without any idea of what processing you did, however, I can't go much beyond that... sorry.
Fits the Challenge
Hmm... it's a portrait.. and it's in color (great color). Yup, it fits :) You continue to show an amazing eye for portraiture.. great work.
My Opinion of the Photo
While it hit me as just a touch dark on my first view, the richness and depth here really counter-balance that first impression nicely. A slightly better expression would really move this portrait into the next level as well, but it's a stunning job nonetheless. Great work, nice score, and look forward to seeing more.
Photographer found comment helpful.
