Winter Coat: "Stocked With JOY!"by
777STANComment by Citadel: Greetings from the critique club!
I guess the first thing I will say is that despite being a Constructed by Man challenge, voters probably weren't looking for actual people. You have to go down to 51st place to see a picture with a person even
in the frame and even then the primary subject isn't a person. My guess is that the voters came down hard for that.
So challenge aside the picture itself has some potential. I think there are some problems with exposure that are hard to deal with in this light. The background is quite bright. In itself, this wouldn't be a problem if it were consistent. I think all photographers have troubles with a distracting background from time to time. I guess in this case we should be happy we don't have that tree on the right growing out of of her head.
There is also a really bright highlight on her hair but her face is exposed nicely. I would suggest, under exposing a bit and using flash to light her face. The alternative is to get her in the shade which might be a better option anyways because this background doesn't offer anything that you want. (for example interesting colors)
Composition works for me and the focus is pretty good. There's a tiny bit of reflection on her glass but you've handled that pretty well. (Incidentally if you see glare etc in glasses, one trick I've learned is to bring the arms of the glasses up a bit to change the angle. I thought that might be a useful tip to pass on).
As a portrait this isn't bad. I think the biggest downfall is the lighting and the background. Definitely a shot worth exploring though.
Photographer found comment helpful.
