Sweet Innocenseby
cools98Comment by e301: from the
Critique Club
Being the vindictive soul I am, I ought to tell you about how much I dislike so much of the stuff going on in this shot - I mean, how twee do you want to get? And not only have you submitted one of the dreaded photographs of your children, you've even managed to include the equally-dreaded flower in it, and gone for a particulrly flattering approach too! What's even more annoying, you scored damn well with it!
You see, there's a difference between this kind of nearly-perfectly executed attempt to understand a style, and the kind of guff that lacks any self-consciousness that is so often submitted. I have to applaud you for trying, and succeeding so well. After a quick look around your portfolio and challenge entries I find it hard to believe that this is your highest placed shot - unless you're deliberately trying to achieve the remarkable feat of collected every place from 11 to 20 before breaking in to the stars, HM's and ribbons world ;-)
There are a couple of things I would have considered; firstly, should this really be a landscape format shot? Certainly it works, and even lends a strength compositionally, but would that necessarily be lost with a change of format? I'm unsure, but it would have been my first approach (not that I'm any great shakes as a portrait photographer). Secondly, for all the high-key-ness of it, I wonder if you might happily have taken the shadows a little further to shade? I feel it might have served to emphasise the smoothness of complexion a bit more, bring a touch more depth to it all. I'm not talking about all the way to black, but just a little further ...
There seems, on a minor technical note, to be something not quite right around the eyelashes; but it isn't enough to spoil a very accomplished photograph. I would think you'd be very pleased with the outcome. I'm looking forward to seeing more from you in future challenges ...
ed
Photographer found comment helpful.