Friend in the garden

[harmon1]

Any thoughts.

[Dave Humphries]

Any thoughts.

Could I suggest you tell us what you think about some/all of your many pictures?
I/we may just be telling you stuff you already know, which is a bit pointless.

I think I'd crop off the left most pink flower to get the subject less central and lose the sign on left.
Might be worth toning down the steps and path a bit, they're quite bright.
The two flowers directly in front of the subject are also a little tall and intrusive, wouldn't be so bad if not above the end of the hair.

I think the DoF is about right, but it could do with a sharpen.

Welcome to the CiC forums from ....

[rpcrowe]

I agree with Dave...

Additionally, it seems like this image was shot at mid-day with the sun directly over head (as indicated to the shadows directly under the subject's chin). She seems as if she is squinting from the bright light.

Perhaps selecting another time of the day or a shaded location might be an idea for future shots. Colin has a very good portrait tutiorial above...

[Colin Southern]

Hi Harmon,

I agree with Dave and Richard, ...

- As the image stands, it's quite washed out; the exposure of the foliage need reducing about 1 stop to bring the colour out

- It's also slightly flat, so raising the black point will help (so that the deepest grays are forced to black)

- A vignette will help draw the eye away from the steps, and towards the person

- And of course, a good crop will help balance the scene as well

Hope you don't mind, but I've given the image a quick "Photoshop 30-Second makeover to show you what I mean"



The one thing I couldnt do much with was the steps; since they're lighter tones than the rest of the image, they tend to draw the eye away from your friend, who should be the centre of attention. I'd suggest that if you're going to include them in the composition then they need to be part of the centre of attention, not competing with it. Compare them to how I've used them in this recent shot of mine ...



Hope this helps.

[harmon1]

Colin you are so right, I am just learning and really absorb all the advice, I am trying to learn more and more about composition and light, and you guys are a blessing in helping me. Thanks.

[Colin Southern]

Colin you are so right, I am just learning and really absorb all the advice, I am trying to learn more and more about composition and light, and you guys are a blessing in helping me. Thanks.

No worries Harmon, that's what we're here for

[Geoff F]

Apart from those two flowers in the foreground, everything else is easily fixable.

I have learned, sometimes, to check for foliage which is 'in the wrong place' and give it a little snip. But I still get caught out too often; particularly with quick action shots.

[tb72]

I join the crop proposed by collin

[Colin Southern]

I have learned, sometimes, to check for foliage which is 'in the wrong place' and give it a little snip.

I was shooting a teen friend in a public park once, and had a few plants in the way (and was trying to work out how to work around them) - teen friend "solved the problem" in an instant and starts breaking branches off and ripping flowers off ... Nooooooooooo!

[Viana]

I agree with what others have stated.

Since the lighting/time of day was not optimal, I decided to adjust the exposure and mitigate some of the uneven lighting on the face. Cropped. (I think that for the final pix one could consider cropping or cloning out more of that sign.)

Also cloned out some of the distracting flowers in the foreground, did a little blurring in the vignette area. There is also a "strange" sort of string at the neck area that you might want to remove.

All of it took very little time.

With a RAW pix you should be able to make a very nice portrait from this, Harmon.