Hi Rew,

Lovely and expressive portrait of another typical New Zealander. :D It's true that in this photo, and especially the B&W one she looks somewhat shy and not entirely relaxed, but this also adds to the charm and sincerity of the expression in the photos, and as she gets used to seeing such pics, she may develop more confidence.

Seems that, like me, you like clean white backgrounds. Wile these are occasionally criticised as too boring, I appreciate them for the way in which they draw attention to the subject and make it stand out. I'd guess you see this too.

I hope you'll continue your experiments in B&W, as I think there's a lot of potential there. It's partly personal taste, of course, but I've always found that colourless portraits have a special quality about them.

Nice of you to include the original shot too, to show how much of a difference some good PP work can do.

Keep it up!

A

Hi Peter,

Great composition, lighting, etc. The subject is very attractive and makes one dream.

I think that in PP you could increase contrast in order to enhance the colours by making them less gray and dull - but otherwise they are great.

;)

André

Hi Tinky,

Well spotted. Would be even nicer if it were your own photo...

André

Salut,

Magnifique photo de nuit! C'est d'un style très attrayant, avec des couleurs splendides! Bien fait.

André

Hi Maciej,

Very dramatic POV and composition, as in many of your other photographs. I want to be there to push that bail of hay!

A

Hi,

Way to go! I've always liked black and white, and often works well with people. One of the reasons for this preference is that the absence of colours draws more attention to form and lighting. Writing of lighting, I think it works well here. I know it's a small point, but I think the bright bit of curtain on the left leaves a large distracting surface on the edge of the photo, drawing attention away from the composition a little - just a thought.

I hope to see more!

;D

A

Hi,

After the last comment I thought I'd come out and confess that I've jumped onto the partial-desaturation bandwagon myself. Again, I think the potential is huge, and it's worth the time and effort to develop skills towards worthy results. So far my only post of this type is a photo of me taken by Dana, which you can see at my TE intro page. I'm gonna work on more though.

;D

A

Hey Rew,

I think I'll go against the grain a little here and point out what I think are a few imperfections in this one. First off, I do indeed like it, and there is real potential here. And dear knows most of my own pics are nothing to write home about... Anyway, I would regard this as a good trial, but further attempts could give better results.

1. I find the composition a little too tight. My own opinion, of course, but I feel that more context would be nice. Also, Mimi's arm is cut off a little on the left.

2. As in some of your other portraits, the white balance is somewhat off, veering towards blue-green. I don't know if it's intentional, but I think warmer colours would work better.

3. The biggest improvement, again in my thoughts, would come from better background control. The idea of painting the world into existence is fascinating and very creative... so why choose non-descript, messy branches with far-off uninteresting and distracting buildings to do this with? With a more engaging background, the potential is huge.

Hope this was useful.

;-)

André

Hi Jon,

The lighting, pose and exposure are all great - and the tones are fantastic too. However, I think the composition is lacking and makes the overall effect rather dull. The large area at the bottom cuts through the subject without adding anything, and draws attention away from the main interest. That's my 2cents.

A

Hi,

Very beautiful subject indeed. On the whole, I have to agree with Rew, though. I also think the composition is a little off - but not much, and maybe a little more colour and contrast would work well.

;D

A