First outdoor photo, critique please?

[Heather12801]

I'm still VERY new to photography, but I'm trying to get better with lots of practice. I took this picture of my sister earlier today and was wondering what you guys thought. There are a couple of things that I do know that are wrong and that's the hair that's in her face, and the blades of grass at the bottom. The hair should have been pushed back, and I didn't see the grass until after it was taken. Anyway, I'm sure there are a million things wrong here, but would anyone mind pointing out the basics so that I know what to do and not to do next time? Thanks in advance!!

 

[newrmdmike]

just keep shooting, i think photography tends to be to ambiguous in styles and taste for anything to be wrong, its only wrong if it wasn't what you want.

BUT, some of the basic rules that someone would teach you would be
1. the rule of thirds, try not to center things (again, if its intentional then its fine, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't) but keep them at about a third from the edge of the frame. i like natural light and would therefore angle her into the sunset and use the light on her face maybe. i would either completely eliminate the background (part of the tree and powerlines) or include more of it.

keep it up!

 

[~Stella~]

I think you did really well considering the low light environment - I don't see much noise at all, if any (I can't really tell on this monitor). How was her face lit? It's a very natural looking shot.

I might do a different crop or other small aesthetic things, but technically, it looks nice. Pretty girl, too.

 

[newrmdmike]

its flash, but not unflattering really, but it helps that she is cute.

 

[~Stella~]

Oh, and I agree with Mike that the natural light would have been a better option. It usually is, if you have it on hand.

 

[LarryD]

Nothing wrong with the hair in the face if that is how the subject is most likely seen..

However, her eye looking extremely to the right is just not natural.. Either have her turn her head to look that way, or a less extreme look over your shoulder.

exposure is good and flash highlights are minimal..

 

[marcpro]

Suggestions:
- Don't center the subject, read up on the rule of thirds.
- Pay attention to what's in the viewfinder (grass).
- Don't include the sky in your pictures unless there's something there that adds to your picture, like a beautiful sunset/sunrise, or a colorful object.
- Try different shooting angles and positions.
- Blur the background so it doesn't distract from the subject.
- If it's not a candid picture, then I say "play" a little bit with the model/subject, have her give you a "sultry" look, or looking over her shoulder. Sometimes just faking the pose will make the model laugh, and the picture will look very natural, with a playful mood to it.

My two cents...