Beauty and the beast

I've been making an effort to break out of my comfort zone and photograph more people. Thanks to photographing a recent event for work, I'm getting more comfortable with posing people and I'm gaining experience with making them feel more comfortable with a camera pointing at them.

That being said, I have a lot to learn still. What could I have done differently to make this photo better?

D600 - 85mm 1.8 @ 1.8 at about 7:00 in the evening. No fill flash

Beauty and the beast by stringthing68, on Flickr

StringThing said:

What could I have done differently to make this photo better?

Click to expand...

Hi StringThing!

The first thing could be… hmmmm!… how to put it?
Yes, that's it: Change the title!

Well, the beauty is there… but the beast…? =\

Honestly, the beauty is playing her part at being beautiful rather ok. That is the easy
part since she is beautiful. Her posture… tight knees + arms crossed + hands flat =
a little tied up! She did perfectly what you told her to do. Nothing! or less: sit there
and be beautiful!

Had we seen the beast, we could appreciate the courage and the boldness of her smile
but the beast is sleeping.

So her body, attitude, playfulness (and yours too!) should have loosen up and play with
the monster… laying on it, looking bored… victorious, with a foot on the defeated beast…
come on man, I don't have to teach you how to play!

Being beautiful in this shot is not enough… but add a little theatre and VOILA!

Have a good time!

I would think the Beast is the motorcycle she is sitting on. Think it would have been more interesting shot with the cycle showing. Also fill flash would have given her a better look if done soft enough. But what you have done with her and the pose is great.

Hi StringThing,

Yep. the "beast " must be the bike and obviously, she's the "beauty".

The isolation of your subject is spot on with that cool blurred background. To emphasize her striking eyes, I'd crop closer. Slide in a little saturation or vibrance to add more color.

Then,, perhaps, we can find a good spot for her hands. They seem quite big in relation to her face. Or the closer cropping could ease it out of the picture.

Next time, why not pose her diagonally to you.
Well, that's all for now, maybe the other guys can add more.

Hope this helps.

Thanks

Thanks very much for the input everyone. Noted for the next time - very soon I hope.

cheers!

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