Photo Assignment #2 Results (Part I)

This picture's lighting is in between backlighting and sidelighting. In the process of exposing for the shadows in the face the light on the side of her head and shoulder is overexposed. This is what is called "High-Dynamic Range". The picture is offset with the subject looking off towards the other side of the picture. This gives the picture an air of mystery, and the viewer can't help but wonder what captures the subject's attention outside of the frame. This picture demonstrates good depth of field with the subject in good focus while the background is blurred. This separation of subject from background helps to further focus attention on the subject. Good effort in capturing this image. This image seems to tell a story of curiosity.

I like the lighting of the this picture a little better than the previous image. Notice how the lighting is more even across her face. The overall color of her blouse and face are show more of the true color. We still have loss of detail in the highlights on her head and shoulder. In this picture, her shoulder stands out from the background better and does blend in so much. She is looking toward the camera here, so having her centered in the frame is good. I would suggest you crop out a little of the top of the picture until the subject's head sits about on the "line" dividing the top and middle thirds of the frame. The background is closer as well here which adds a nice touch to this scene. One thing might also be done is to shift her over a bit so the tree does not appear to be coming out of her back; maybe position the tree more the right, near the edge of the picture, but still behind her arm somewhat. This is a really good picture and I like this one the best of your three pictures submitted for this
assignment. Keep up the good work! Your effort shows.

This is a good angle but I find the large white tree to be too prominent and distracting. I like how the tree is used to help frame the subject but the tree needs to be moved off the picture a good amount. Also the the branch the is covering part of her face is very distracting. Notice how the front lighting hides some of blemishes in her face. Because the light is high, it casts some shadows on her face. Some of the shadows adds some detail and texture to her face emphasizing the curves in her cheeks. There is also to much shadow on the right side of her face. The way to lighten up the shadows on her face and reduce the contrast between shadows and highlights would be to use a reflector of some sort. You can get professional folding reflectors of varying sizes for $50-200 new. Or you can use a full piece of white foam board that you can get at most craft stores for no more than a couple bucks.

Your pictures are quite well. Continue to practice what you learn and your skills (and pictures) can't help but improve.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of a reflector, here are couple of pictures to show the difference. Both of these pictures were taken with the exact same camera settins. The only difference was the use of a reflector to diffuse some of the shadows. Notice the difference.

This posting is only one of several postings of the photo assignment submissions. I have chosen to break results down into several smaller postings rather than one large one for easier reading.