Casual snap of a serious 12 year old - C/C welcome as always

[The_Traveler]

Casual snap of a serious 12 year old

 

[ChrisedwardsHT]

It appears (I'm at work on a VERY horrible monitor) that there is a shadow on the left side of face. That was the first thing that I spotted and I can't stop looking at it..

 

[The_Traveler]

What is so engrossing about the shadow?
Everyone has them.

 

[o hey tyler]

The white balance appears to be on the warm side.

 

[ChrisedwardsHT]

Shadows aren't bad. But just the way it appears in this photo just doesn't please me. That is all. Everyone likes different things.

 

[texkam]

Her neck seems to be the focal point.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

What is so engrossing about the shadow?
Everyone has them.

Really?
You're going to compare the soft shadows of your linked image to the hard diagonal line coming off your subjects nose?

Yeah.

 

[The_Traveler]

What is so engrossing about the shadow?
Everyone has them.

Really?
You're going to compare the soft shadows of your linked image to the hard diagonal line coming off your subjects nose?

Yeah.

A bit less passive aggressive, please.

If you have an opinion, just state it.

 

[janineh]

Whats that dark thing in the background?
She looks bored to death.
Dont like the shadow either and for me, the crop is too tight.

 

[SoonerBJJ]

I'm really curious of what you think actually works for this "snap"?

Problems with the white balance, lighting, crop and composition have already been mentioned. Her head blends into the black thing on the wall and the stray hairs on her face are distracting. Sort of like a careless passport photo.

 

[JoshuaSimPhotography]

Nica snap! But it seems that she's already wearing makeup at this age

 

[The_Traveler]

I'm really curious of what you think actually works for this "snap"?

Problems with the white balance, lighting, crop and composition have already been mentioned. Her head blends into the black thing on the wall and the stray hairs on her face are distracting. Sort of like a careless passport photo.

Interestingly, people mention 'problems' or things that they don't like but no one says how that harms the picture or why things would be better if they were different.

I like the warm look, it looks as if it was taken indoors by a single light - which it was - and it looks natural to me.
She has a lovely calm, sweet face, lovely complexion - others think she looks bored, perhaps, but this exactly how she looked when I snapped it.
I can't respond to the composition issue, it is a 4x5 head and shoulders shot of a sweet looking girl, caught with a great deal of fidelity to her look and coloration at the time.

There is no attempt to be 'artistic.

 

[SoonerBJJ]

Fair enough, but the same line of reasoning could be used by the photographer to defend any technically or aesthetically challenged image. You remember how you felt about the scene and subject when you took the photo, but since I wasn't there I can only form an impression based on what I see. If you have to explain it for the viewer, the image didn't work.

That is the photographer's ultimate hallenge. To capture the scene as we experienced it and convey that feeling to a total stranger.

 

[SoonerBJJ]

To be less vague, I can see what you are describing but the wall art is terribly distracting and appears to be issuing from her head. I'd like to see her in front of a more uniform background and a softer shadow would be more flattering to her nose.

 

[The_Traveler]

Things are what they are.

I'm not much on creating an alternative reality from what I see.