sticks (2881) [2009-08-14 16:35] [+]

HI JZM
well, this is a striking photo, this man looks evil! or he is simple and the eyes are just staring without comprehension.
Either way best to be avoided.
The treatment you have given is one of personal choice, I think you have acheived the look you wanted.
Techically I cant really fault it.
An interesting photo?.... yes, attractive?.....No. :)

sticks (2881) [2009-08-11 3:55] [+]

HI Kbe
As a portrait of family, its better than most.
No problems with exposure,sharp enough,I like the general framing with space to the side. Dof handled very well, background nicely blurred.Glasses( which can be difficult), handled very well.
Things to note for improvement all imho,
For me the worst thing about this picture is the thing in his ear, I don't know what it is, and I find it distracting.Forgive me if its a hearing aid, that he has to wear.)
As you say you have clipped his hair, that's unfortunate.With digital best to have a loose framing as you know you can crop later. ( some people might say that's lazy, but you avoid this problem. As it stands you could crop further down, so we would know it was intentional and it would also put his eyes on a third, which is generally a good thing.
Like the background but I think I would have toned down the bright bits.
The expression is a bit bland,and doesn't tell us much about the subject.
The lighting is a bit flat, seems to lack a bit of life,maybe because its very even and lacks a bit of contrast.
I think if this had been my shot I would have asked your brother to put a shirt with a collar on, as it stands you are emphasizing his rather long neck, especially with the chin tilted up.
HTH
Martin

sticks (2881) [2008-12-02 12:47] [+]

Hi Ion,
I think you need to put in the description, what is it that you were trying to achieve? Do you think you did?
I can judge the picture against this.
As it stands, for me the picture holds little interest.
If I was flicking thru lots of pictures, I would not stop for this. I think you need to ask your self, would this make me linger? Has it got something, passion , emotion, beauty, sex, drama?
At the end of the day please yourself, but if you want to please others, you must add that wow factor.

sticks (2881) [2008-11-28 1:10]

This shot like the last 2 has focusing issues. You have probably focused on the wall, the hair at the back of her hair is very sharp. I hope you can remember to focus on her eyes in your next session, then I will be happy.
Martin

sticks (2881) [2008-10-15 15:22] [+]

How did you get such a lovely wife? :)

sticks (2881) [2008-09-30 1:21] [+]

HI Ion
Not my cup of tea....
I think the processing is heavy handed. The sky has unnatural colours and is blown out. The picture is dominated by the one dark texture of the stones to the exclusion of pretty much everything else, (which I assume you have tone mapped.)
Its horrible.

sticks (2881) [2008-09-18 5:43] [+]

HI Ion
I cant really find much to like in this picture.
For me the background is way too fussy and is competing with the big hair. Considering she is your wife, I find it surprising that she seems to have a rabbit caught in the headlights expression and looks anything but relaxed.
I don't like the high key treatment of just the skin, for me all or nothing. As it stands lots of detail in the hair ( which is fabulous) but none in the skin, just whiteness. This combined with the very bold lipstick gives me the feeling of a clown with a painted face. I'm not sure if that was the look you wanted.

sticks (2881) [2008-09-17 9:22]

Oh dear Antonella
You really have to work on your focusing, please!!!
Its not camera shake as has been suggested as then nothing would be sharp. You have focused on the plane about level with her ear.You can see the hair is nice and sharp at this point.
Two things you can do, firstly use your auto focus on one spot, using the middle spot. Now always always always focus using the one spot on the eyes, hold the button down, recompose your shot and fire. Or/and use a bigger fstop say f8 so that the dof is wider and not so critical, then if you accidentally focus on the ear it wont matter so much.If by going to f8 the shutter speed starts to look a bit slow, then turn the iso up.( better to get a noisy picture than a blurred one)
A picture with the eyes out of focus is a portrait ruined.

sticks (2881) [2008-09-15 8:05] [+]

Hi Rew,
So you have a 50 mm prime!
I think very few women can get away with this type of pose.
Generally very skinny ones!
The armpit and arm are bigger and lighter than the face, for me this is unbalancing the shot. One great big earing is probably even worse than two, for me.
Nice sexy eye contact.

sticks (2881) [2008-09-15 7:58] [2] [+]

Hi Rew
Agree the background is a bit bright, but you can easily change that.
I'm finding the pose uncomfortable, it looks like nothing obvious supporting her back. So she is pushing her breasts forward for no particular reason than to draw attention to them. For me understatement is more effective.
Those earrings have to go!
She is a great model. She could do with a bit more light on her face to give it life. Why don't you use a reflector? It would have really helped in this situation.