portrait with orange flowers

[texkam]

I like the movement in this one. Ambient light.

[BenE]

OK... First my apologies if I sound rude. I have refrained form making comments for a long time because I seem to come across that way.

I really like the lighting. The background is nicely out of focus. I like the turn of her head, and am not bothered by the almost straight on position of the body. The color of the sweater is great and even though the blouse has flowers, they are not overpowering.

As for the items that do need some attention.

Her hair needs to be smooth, and on the right (her left) it needs to be combed out so it looks fuller to match the other side. The crop is a bit too close, and the fingers are cut off. The arm is pulled over so far that it makes her shoulder appear "unfeminine" (for lack of another word). The flowers are a distraction, and keep my attention. the color of the flowers does not work with the clothing. The camera angle seems a bit low, and I am not sure if the focal length selected is correct, because the hand does seem a bit larger than it should.

If there was a subtle vignette it would be nice.

[bluman95]

I like the shot overall, I agree with the stray hairs that are sticking up and the finger chop. The only part that I don't really like is the flowers. They seem like they are jumping into the picture kind of like that annoying guy who has to be in every picture at a bachelor party. :)

[texkam]

Thanks guys. Great comments. Let 'er rip. Nothing here that's going to hurt my feelings. I do see where you are comming from and I agree it has unconventional elements. One of the reasons I like this photo is because of it's movement. I like the way the eye travels both around and into the photo. IMA(artistic)O the cropped flowers and cropped hand purposely play an important part in the visual movement, so does the angled arm. Take these away and it's a nice safe portrait that just kind of lays there. At least that's the way I see it. Apparently it's my Fine Arts roots coming through. You, the client, and others might think thats all a load of crap though and would rather have it the other way and that's why I really appreciate the feedback, it helps to know how others view things.

You're right on the hair and the larger hand, as this was a quick spontaneous capture. Thanks again for taking the time.

[Ernst-Ulrich Schafer]

The lighting is beautiful, but I do agree with what's been said.

[tomdrink]

Originally Posted by ernst-ulrich schafer

the lighting is beautiful, but i do agree with what's been said.

+1

[rkee]

Love the lighting , but agree with Ben as well

[auddii]

Ok, maybe I don't get it (never did take an art appreciation class), but I don't understand the movement that you are talking about. It seems like a very static picture. She's sitting in the chair, and it's cropped close - to the point that there are random floating elements and chopped elements.

To me, movement tends to involve hair flowing as someone spins, laughing, but usually very non-posed moments (keep in mind I'm a wedding assistant, so most of the photos I take are during the reception and everyone is moving around). It seems that any time you set someone in a pose, movement stops.

However, that said, the chopped fingers and arm don't bother me so much. The flowers I find distracting as hell.

[texkam]

I don't understand the movement that you are talking about.

To me, movement tends to involve hair flowing as someone spins, laughing

Thanks Audrey for your response. You are right about the movement you are used to seeing. You're describing literal movement. I'm talking about compositional movent, the movement of the viewer’s eye through a composition. Your eye can either jump from isolated parts of the composition or it can flow more smoothly from one part of the composition to another. Here's what I mean.

In my photo the flowers bring you into the composition. They are distracting, but that's what I wanted in this case (not the traditional portrait). They create a strong foreground element (1). Your eye naturally wants to travel left to right, to her face (2) with the logical conclusion ending with the soft background (3), however the uncropped, sharply angled, bright red shoulder forces your eye down to the hand. Like the flowers, it is cropped to push you visually back into the composition.

That's OK, the client probably won't like it either, but I thought it was worth sharing here. Still trying to learn.

[J Eddington]

I understand what you were trying for. For me my eyes don't flow as yours do. Mine jump between her face and the flowers. My mind gets all conflicted here and goes hummmm? It may be the color of the flowers or the size of the flowers in comparision with her face or that the flowers are on the same horizon as the face, but something seems off.
Lighting is great.

[auddii]

Ah, thanks for the art lesson; I figured I was missing something. Seems like with your plan how you composed the portrait makes sense. Still not sure if I like it, but I'm definitely looking at your portrait in a new light. :)

[texkam]

my eyes don't flow as yours do. Mine jump between her face and the flowers. My mind gets all conflicted here and goes hummmm? It may be the color of the flowers or the size of the flowers in comparision with her face or that the flowers are on the same horizon as the face, but something seems off.

Thanks. Sounds like it may not quite be there, but I want to try to push myself to take some risks. I'll keep trying. I'll try to post some others from the same session for feedback. We'll see if they might be a little more visually pleasing.

Ah, thanks for the art lesson

You're welcome. A lot can be learned from studying the work of famous artists throughout history. Often it is useful to understand an artist's intent. This is particularly true in modern art.

[bryanlindsey]

Hair wisps are fixable in post. I don't care for the flowers either.

FWIW