Black and white portrait

[dianna]

Hi!
I'd appreciate some constructive criticism on these pictures. Thank you!

 

[Harmony]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

The first photo seems to be a weird angle. Her hair fades into black, which makes her seem like her head is endless, and the cloth of her dress is very distracting, especially out of focus.

The second one uses very strong light and shadows, but the negative space (black) is not balanced with the positive space. Much of it needs to be cropped out, so that the head is not centered.

 

[Derrel]

I agree with Harmony's comments. On the second photo, I would crop off some space at the top of the frame, and also remove some space on the right hand side of the frame, and I think that would give a stronger look to the photo. Also, just a smidgeon more detail on the shadowed side of her face, just the most minute amount of additional detail, would strengthen the shot I think.

 

[dianna]

Thank you for your comments! You are right that the second one isn't well framed. I tried a few crops. Is this what you meant?

Initially, I wanted this to be a shot with accent on the void space, but now I think you're right. Too bad that the image's imperfections are so noticeable now (noise, blurred eye etc).