Isla

[billtils]

Portrait of my granddaughter, shot outdoors with backdrop created from black table cloth.





EDIT: I wasn't sure about the pose or crop (and the blown highlight in the hair) so tried an editL

[Manfred M]

A couple of nice shots Bill. One suggestion I would make is that you crop less tightly in camera and give more space all the way around the frame. That gives you a lot more flexibility in post to fine tune how you want to position the image in the final image.

Another thing we were taught was to get the hair pulled off the shoulders and behind the head. That does two things for the image; it does not break up the visual flow of the transition from body to head. It also tends to pull the hair away from the face, which tends to reduce some of the funny shadows as well as revealing more of the face.

In terms of the light, when working outdoors, most portrait photographers prefer working in covered shade so that they can control the light better. Sunlight and open shade (where the subject is in the shade, but the open sky is visible above them) are not the best light to work with.

[billtils]

Thanks for the feedback Manfred. I agree with everythng you say, but the customer (my daughter) was happy and impatient ...

[Manfred M]

the customer (my daughter) was happy and impatient ...

Ultimately, her opinion is the only one that really matters....