..:: Portrait of my sister ::..

[Mersad]

This is a photo of my sister taken at our weekend-house in the mountains. I hope you will like it.

 

[LaFoto]

Heya Mersad, welcome to ThePhotoForum

You are lucky to have your sister posing for you!
I always think that natural greens (nicely blurred) form a lovely background for portraits.
And I am sure you went for a bit of a dark portrait here. Planned it to be this dark. Maybe to add a touch of "secret" to it?

However, I don't think it is ideal. The shadows on the right side (camera right - her left) are so dark that all detail is lost. Her eyes don't have catchlights and look like holes. Something white to your right would have helped brighten those shadows a little (a table cloth, bed sheet, white cardboard), while she could still be looking a bit mysterious.

Nice work all in all and I hope to seen see a lot more from you!

 

[Mersad]

Thank you for your reply. The photo is brighter in the original raw file. You are right, i went for a darker look. Thank you for your tip for the shadows!

The be honest the photo was taken during our one-day visit to the mountains. I hadn't had anything planed for a photo shoot. We improvised a bit. There is a big wooden roof over her head in this shot which gives it a darker tone.

We made a lot of photos on that day, I'll post them soon. Thanks again for your criticism, i want to learn as much as i can.

 

[motorshooter]

Good comp, it needs to be lighter on the left side of the face and head, the focus is a tad off.

There is an area over her shoulder were the background is too light

You should try some soft side lighting and see how that works for you.

 

[Mersad]

Thx motorshooter. I will try to do that.

I went back to the original raw file and tried to fix some of the mistakes. Then again, my original vision was the darker tone...

But here it is:

 

[Early]

Nice portrait, nice crop, and a beautiful model. I a bit turned off by the harsh out of focus shrubbery in the background. Do you have another lens?:er:

 

[Mersad]

I only have one lens. But I plan on getting another one. What do you mean by "shrubbery"? Do you mean that it's not even more out of focus, creating fewer tones of green?

 

[Early]

I'm talking about the trees to her right. They looked blurred more from movement or heavy camera shake instead of merely out of focus. I'm thinking you would call this a harsh bokeh.

 

[Mersad]

They are not blurred from camera movement. Behind her is a big bush and behind it several trees, thus creating the impression that it's a shaky camera.

 

[John_Olexa]

I like it!. The one single thing that is all importent here is the lack of catch light in her eyes. That above anything else will separate a nice portrait shot, from a snapshot... IMO

Now I know sometimes it can't be helped, but I have even photoshopped some catch light in the eyes when nothing else worked.

 

[Mersad]

I like it!. The one single thing that is all importent here is the lack of catch light in her eyes....
...Now I know sometimes it can't be helped, but I have even photoshopped some catch light in the eyes when nothing else worked.

I will try better next time, or use the pp method. I'm glad you like it.

 

[Alex_B]

I agree that her face did not get enough light. but the catchlights in her eyes are not a must. Often portraits have a more natural touch without catchlights.

Oh, and she seems to be beautiful by the way

 

[Mersad]

Oh, and she seems to be beautiful by the way

Thank you. I'll make sure to tell her

 

[Alex_B]

Thank you. I'll make sure to tell her

Uhm, well,.. OK