I miss you

[Javier]

[mugge]

I do like the lighting and the model's dress.
Cheers Ole

[billtils]

This is very nice. Would it be improved if the candles were quietened down a little and something was done to make the quill stand out from the background a little more?

[Chataignier]

Beautifully staged and composed, I like this very much.

[Manfred M]

I feel that this is probably your strongest portrait that you have posted so far. Yes, there are some minor issues that others have pointed out, put overall the image works very well. The mood created and the costume are very effective, as is the lighting on the model's face and skin.

I would not have used two candles, if it were my shot. They are a minor distraction and they could be toned down a bit. A medium gray quill rather a dark one would have been more effective, although I suspect you could dodge that part of the image to create that effect. I would probably look at adding some light to the hair on the camera right side of the ear (using a snoot) as the hair looks blond at the bottom and back and dark towards the front (again a very minor point) and that would help make it stand out a bit more from the background.

Very well done!




I've taken some liberties with your image to demonstrate what I am thinking. If you open one of the images in Lightbox mode and toggle between the two images, the changes become more apparent.

[Shropshire Lad]

Love this. Reminds me of Hans Holbein. Especially in the way that her dress is rendered. I think the candelabra in Manfred's edit looks odd though. Maybe clone out the left hand side of the candelabra and keep the central bit as a single candle. I love the changes to the hair though.

[Manfred M]

Especially in the way that her dress is rendered. I think the candelabra in Manfred's edit looks odd though.

Agreed, but I tried your suggestion first and the resultant image looked odd (and actually worse that what I have done). The issue I ran into is that the position of the candle is what wasn't working. The one on the right hand side is too close to the edge of the frame (and tilts too much) and the one on the left is too far in. Moving the whole candle holder to the left means a lot of rebuilding the area that it sits on (which is going to cause other issues). The obvious answer is a reshoot, but that is not easy to pull of either.

[DanK]

Beautiful portrait. I agree with Manfred's dodging the hair and burning the chest. I think the latter is the more important of the two changes, as the bright spot on the chest draws the eye more than I would want. I don't personally think that the two candles are a problem at all. I don't see them as a distraction, and having two candles is more consistent with the lighting on the face. I would leave them as they were.

[escape]

I like what Manfred did with the image. It almost looks like the photo was taken from a slightly lower angle by cropping a bit off the top. Even the writing-table appears larger. Moving the single candle to its present position creates a more harmonious grouping of the elements in my view. Particularly its relationship with the quill.