What do you think of this photo let your inner critic out

Question

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k364/ambientpics/Soledad/205_0075.jpg

Answer 1

Nice moment/expression, totally distracting background = try again.

Keep at it, and pay a bit more attention to whats in the background and edges of the frame

Answer 2

I got a feeling of loneliness and sadness from it.  

Answer 3

Along with what all the others said, the uniform black blob of dress and hair in the center is wrong.  The image should have been taken from closer in (or telephoto) and light should have been reflected in on the dress and hair to provide lowlight detail.

Answer 4

The person above completely answered your question. The big point I see is with the background. It's way too distracting. Also, they're right in that it's not very interesting. Also, a personal tip: The girl looks kind of emo, which is nothing against her or you if it offends you. The expression on the face and the matching black hair/black clothing make it contradict with the bright, beautiful sunlight and lively tree.  

Answer 5

It's a cute kid and her face is very expressive, but technically, the photo is lacking. The sunny parts of the photo are over-exposed. I like the angle and the position of her body on the tree but I don't like how the girl is very dark and the tree is so light. If you can, switch that around a little on whatever photo editor you use. Or you can just crop off the parts that are too bright (bottom and right).

EDIT: I disagree with some of the others answers about the background being distracting. I kind of like the background. It gives it character. It gives the viewer a sense of who this girl is..........or maybe it's just me? I do think the background is too bright though, and that may be what's distracting.

Answer 6

I'd have to agree with J-Man.  The picture is perfect except for the background.  Can you shoot it somewhere else, like a park?  Use a wide aperture to blur out the background even more.

Answer 7

Ok, I'm being totally critical here, so don't get offended. =)

Background is horribly distracting. Either set up the photo in a different place, or change your camera settings so that only the girl is in focus (use the manual focus feature on your camera to focus on her eyes - when cameras auto-focus on people, they generally focus on noses... not very flattering, no matter how cute you are). Composition for the most part is good, but I don't like how the middle of the girl's body is dead-center in the photograph. Maybe you could try a different perspective, or get in closer on the shot so that she's a little off center? Last -- and this is totally a personal opinion -- what exactly is the point of your photo? It's somewhat boring to me. The girl seems like she's a bit sad, but the background colors and lighting contradict that emotion instead of working with it.

Overall, though, the shot isn't bad.... it's really good, actually. About a 7.5 or 8 out of 10. It's better than most of the photos I've seen here on Y!A. =)

Answer 8

As already mentioned the background is totally distracting and draws the eyes away from the model.  A better shot would have been to have her stand on the ground and use the branches as a framing device and the fence as a background. And have the camera at her eye level and focus on the eyes.  That is the key to any portrait- focus on the eyes.  Also appears that she has a building growing out of her head.  It does appear as you did put some thought into the shot though!  And it does look like it is more than a snap shot.  That's good!

Answer 9

I saw your question a couple days ago and I only have one suggestion. try to get higher to take the photo. you don't want that building and the pipes running up the side in your photo.

the fence and/or the tree is a good backdrop.

I like the pose better in this one. she seems to be getting the hang of it.

Answer 10

depends what your looking to attract because to me she looks like one of the children from those commercials for the sick and hungry children from overseas