Praying

[Antonio Correia]

[Rufus]

I like this image.

The background nicely frames the lady's head and shoulders and it draws attention to her as the subject. The limited colour palette is pleasing. The blue in the background, in her skirt and in the reflections in the pew all work nicely as well as the slight blue in her top.

I find the door or screen in the background is quite a strong element and perhaps could be lightened just a little (but still consistent with the pews) so as not to detract from the main subject.

[Antonio Correia]

Thank you David !
I made two or three shots before this one. In the one I show in this post, I got the perception that she should be framed "inside" the tiles (azulejos) with more or less uniform background. I was lucky she had the eyes closed all the time, so I could quickly move inside the empty church and compose.
Silent shooting of course...

Oh ! I see no reason why not showing the raw and near missed photographs ...

[Shadowman]

Nicely exposed and composed.

[mugge]

The composition works for me.
Cheers Ole

[Manfred M]

Overall a very nice image Antonio.

I find the whole bright area on the right grabs my attention a bit too much and draws my eyes away from your subject. I wonder if cropping it at the edge of the dark wood panel might not be more effective? I find your subject just a touch "hot" and wonder if pulling down the mid-point might not be worth considering too?

[billtils]

Overall a very nice image Antonio.

I find the whole bright area on the right grabs my attention a bit too much and draws my eyes away from your subject. I wonder if cropping it at the edge of the dark wood panel might not be more effective? I find your subject just a touch "hot" and wonder if pulling down the mid-point might not be worth considering too?

Antonio has explained why he framed the shot the way he did, however, I do think that Manfred's crop is effective (as is his levels edit). These relatively minor changes make a good shot even better.

[Antonio Correia]

Thank you guys for your words.
Your remarks made me go and refine the image. I have even created a collection called "Devotion" in which this one was included for a start. Then, I remembered another image which I have done a couple of days ago which I will be able to show you later on, if you wish.

Working on the photograph, I realised an error on the crop: the proportions I want to keep in this collection is one of those I use, and it is 3:5. Why this and not any other ? That is to be justified later on.

In fact, I made some adjustments according to Manfred suggestions and came to this final image.
From now on I will be aware of the theme of my new collection and with time, I will get more shots.

Thank you for your attention !

[Manfred M]

I want to keep in this collection is one of those I use, and it is 3:5. Why this and not any other ? That is to be justified later on.

The more constraints you put on your images, the more trade-offs that you have to make. One of those is the aspect ratio and I'm not sure that the one you have chosen ideally suits this picture. The bright area at the right is still distracting, in my view. Burning it down could be a consideration.

[Antonio Correia]

Thank you again Manfred.
I do not mind to have a few constrains on my photographs. I like the collections to be coherent in several aspects, being one of them the crop factor.
I absolutely agree with you regarding the area on the right. I fixed it the way you suggest, thank you.I am not going to post it as I think it could be boring for all.
Cheers !