Golden light

[KyoMoon]

this is the pic that i recently took... also im the new member here in CiC .. hope you guys will help me improve more in this field... =)

[Markvetnz]

Welcome. The background is so bright that it overwhelms the rest of the photo. There is an excellent series of tutorials on portrait photography written by Colin. There is a link to it at the top of this forum. Lovely model BTW.

[Snarkbyte]

In addition to Mark's comment about the background, it's almost always a bad idea to cut people off at the knees (or any other joint, for that matter). In this case, you might have moved in a little closer for an above waist shot, and have the model hold the flowers (or grass, or whatever) higher, at shoulder level. This would make the subject to fill more of the frame, so that there isn't so much bright background, and you could have used a bit of fill flash to remove the shadows from the model's face.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

While Al is right about traditional thinking with regards to where you cut them off at, I'm personally okay with where you've got your subject's knees.

I think in the case of the photo you've taken, I think there are a couple of elements worth considering on top of what Al and Mark have mentioned. I suspect you've included the background in for a reason however in this case I'm not so sure it works with what your model is wearing. "Golden Light" implies to me 'warmth' however your model is wearing warm clothes indicating it's a cool environment. In addition, the colours of the clothes don't work to make her stand out from the background. To me they actually blend her in to the scene somewhat rather than helping keep the viewer focussed on her rather than the background. Some contrasting clothing to the 'Golden Light' might have helped her stand out more.

Hope this helps

[smcrews]

Hey there Tien. Nice shot. I would have to agree with both the crop and the background being to bright. I changed the crop a little and darkened the background a bit. I don't know if this is more of what you are looking for or not.

P.S. Colin posted a series of lessons on portrait photography that is really helpful.

[kezmal]

Tien I think you've done a lovely job, its a wonderful photo I actually love all the colours and the warmth of the photo. Well done

[KyoMoon]

@ Mark .. thankyou .. i will check that topic
@ AI... that is great suggestion .. i will apply it for my next project .. and you also got the point from cutting at the joint ... i just notice that make the feeling for the height of subject kindda wierd XD lol
@ Mal: wow ... u can read that much from just a picture ...lol ...yes Color Management was always my weak point .. im surely need to study more in it =/ thank for your comment .. that sure help me realize alot :d
@ Shawn: that is lovely crop you made there ...now actually can focus more in her thank alot
@ Kerry thankyou im trying


@ ALL..: thankyou im looking forward to learn more from you guys

[Goldcoastgolfer]

@ Mark .. thankyou .. i will check that topic
@ AI... that is great suggestion .. i will apply it for my next project .. and you also got the point from cutting at the joint ... i just notice that make the feeling for the height of subject kindda wierd XD lol
@ Mal: wow ... u can read that much from just a picture ...lol ...yes Color Management was always my weak point .. im surely need to study more in it =/ thank for your comment .. that sure help me realize alot :d
@ Shawn: that is lovely crop you made there ...now actually can focus more in her thank alot
@ Kerry thankyou im trying


@ ALL..: thankyou im looking forward to learn more from you guys

We're all here to learn You've obviously got an eye for nice light and composition so I'll be keeping an eye out for your next series of photo

[KyoMoon]

lol next project of mine will be " WHITE " ... and im thinking about some overexpose way to do ... but other than that .. can i have some suggestion? :P lol and my teacher won't let me do Black&White serries... must in WHITE color .. lol

[Goldcoastgolfer]

How about having your subject darker than the background such that overexposing the shot turns a potentially ugly background white, hiding any distractions?

Something I did over Christmas.

[KyoMoon]

yep ... seem like i have no choice then using the negative space to boost up the WHITE in the pic =/

[MrDa]

Vietnamese xD

[speedneeder]

I agree that the conventional approach is to have a bright foreground and a darker background, BUT then why are white backgrounds popular/accepted? I am perfectly OK with breaking from convention, and in this case I think the photo is pretty good. Personally, I would increase the overall exposure as I think the subject is slightly under exposed. I agree that cropping right at the knees seems a little off - I would try to crop just a little higher myself. Malcolm makes a good point about golden light - doesn't seem to apply to this image, at least not for me.