Critque Me Please

[Zerokhmer]

Hello guys, just made an account here and would love to hear some feedback.

I was taking some pictures of the bridesmaids at a friend's wedding, and in this photo, the bridesmaid just so happens to be my girlfriend.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikkor 35mm f1.8 DX
Exposure: 1/60
Aperture: f2.8
ISO: 250

 

[Eye-level]

Beautiful chick you are lucky. Hard for me to score it but maybe a 6-8. Color is outstanding very nice earthy tones everywhere. She is sort of intriguing maybe it is just those beautiful eyes and the coiffed hair. Focus is outstanding but it ought to be with that lens. But there are several things that I don't like about the image. You cut off her hair. That is bad in my book. 35mm FL distortion you are to close IMO for that focal length...35mm even on DX is NOT a head and shoulders shooter. I would prefer her centered especially as she looks so strong and confident. It is just wooden/posed to me with a model like that there are definitely better angles of view and more interesting stories to tell behind that face.

I'm no great portraitist myself and I make a lot of these same kind of mistakes all of the time.

The snap stands up fairly well though but not really because of the photography per se but rather because of the sheer power and presence of the woman herself. She would make a great Cleopatra or Boudica.

You're lucky to have a model like that around IMO. Let's see some more if you please! (not in this thread though haha)

 

[STM]

"Critique me please"

Ok, you're ugly and your Mama dresses you funny.....oh wait, you meant the image, my bad.

I like the shallow depth of field, it works well here, though I just went back and noticed her chin is a little soft. Perhaps another half stop down would have rendered it in sharp focus as well. Although I don't normally like images that are centered in the frame, the extra space on the right side of the image seems a little awkward to me. I think this image is a lot about symmetry, and placing her nose in the vertical center of the frame would have emphasized that better. I would also like to see her eyes closer to a horizontal third rather than pretty much in the dead center of the frame. It is perfectly ok to crop some of her hair out at the top, since it is just up in a bun or whatever the women call it, the real focal point of this image are those amazing chestnut colored eyes of hers! Lastly, it is not objectionable because she does have a very nice complexion, but I would suggest a little smoothing on her nose and cheeks to de-emphasize her pores. Contrary to often popular belief, portraiture is not about rendering every pore or peach fuzz hair on her face in critically sharp focus, it is about making the most flattering image to the subject.

Since I have not seen her in person, I am not sure if her nose and chin really are that prominent compared to the rest of her face, but it does look to me like there is some perspective distortion. I agree with Jeff on this, even though the 35mm equates to roughly a 50mm on DX, it is way too short a focal length lens for portraiture. The minimum focal length I use in portraiture is 85mm (on 35mm or FX) and for tight shots like this I prefer my 105mm for just that reason.

Below is an artist's misconception of what I was talking about crop-wise:

 

[Whiskeyman]

Zerokhmer,

I'd like to see the illumination moved so that the catchlights in her eyes are at ten to eleven o'clock. In addition, move the catchlights further away from her eyes' pupils, which should deepen the light.

Lower the exposure by up to a stop, or so.

Is she looking up at the camera? If so, for that shot it might be better to lower the camera to level with her eyes. Or crop out more below her chin.

I'm being picky because you asked and you've done a good job to begin with. (Far better than I'm doing these days.)

WM

 

[Moab Man]

Agree with STM on the cropping and eye/horizontal third placement. She does have these beautiful friendly yet piercing eyes that draw you in.

 

[Zerokhmer]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it and it helps me out in a great way. It was really just a quick snap I took of her as I was snappin' away that day and I was too lazy to crop it. I was more focused on the colors. But @STM, I really do like that crop much better for this photo, it really works much better. I will take into consideration to what you guys say for my future photographic endeavors and I will try to not be too lazy!

I do tend to get too close with this lens, I don't know why though. Maybe I will look into getting a new prime for this sort of photography but I do love this focal length.

Thanks again!

Here is another picture of another bridesmaid, and I know now that I was too close but let me know what you like and dont like about the photo (EXIF is the same as above):
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/8809410173_0da08d5037_b.jpg

 

[STM]

Here is another picture of another bridesmaid, and I know now that I was too close but let me know what you like and dont like about the photo (EXIF is the same as above):

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/8809410173_0da08d5037_b.jpg

The perspective distortion is very apparent in this image, almost disconcertingly so. A much longer focal length lens is needed for a truly flattering portrait. When doing portraiture and working with DX format cameras, just looking at the comparative focal length (to FX) is not necessarily enough, the actual focal length of the lens needs to be one where the perspective distortion is minimized. I would use a lens of at least 75mm or so.

Of course, you can use a very wide angle, in this case a 16mm full frame fisheye, to have some fun with perspective too! Lynnsey's nose was about 6 inches from the front element in this one.