What about her arm?

Tell me your thoughts about this one

Do you think her arm is super unnatural and distracting? Do you like the image overall ?

What do you like? What not? Let me know

Yeah, I found it distracting. Like the image overall though, but the arm knocks it down a bit.

It does take away from the shot. Lots of good elements in this shot... the arm isn't one of them.

DamianG wrote in post #19198037
Tell me your thoughts about this one

Do you think her arm is super unnatural and distracting? Do you like the image overall ?

What do you like? What not? Let me know

Hosted photo: posted by DamianG in
./showthread.php?p=191​98037&i=i168375627
forum: Critique Corner

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Her arm steals the show! . Seriously, it is so unusual that it is what my eye immediately goes to, trying to figure out why a human's arm would be in that position.

As far as the image overall, well, I do like her face and the way that you shot it.

As for the background, I see it has some potential to be beautiful and a complimentary part of the image, but the way you use it could benefit from some changes.

The "sky holes" bring a harshness to the image that gives an overall choppy feel. . The out-of-focus foliage could be beautiful, but you need to position yourself and/or your model differently in order to bring out the best in what it has to offer. . I would position myself so that you don't have any areas of open sky showing through. . If the background was ALL nice green foliage, with no harsh sky holes, then the overall feel of the image would be so much more peaceful and relaxed, instead of being harsh and choppy. . There are times when sky holes can look good in some images, but not during the bright part of a sunny, clear day.

Also, there are some VERY bright hotspots on your model - areas that are completely blown out, this is very distracting because they are aesthetically incongruous with the rest of her. . These spots would include the top of her arm (the awkwardly extended one), her stray hairs (the ones in front of the extended arm), the hair on the back of her neck, and the top of her right shoulder.

Overall, I think you need to be looking for even light. . Even light on your model, and even light in your background. . Not that light needs to be perfectly even, of course, but you should at least be looking to avoid very bright highlights that are incongruous with the shaded light in other areas of the frame.

If you had taken this on a slightly overcast day, it would be so much better. . Or if you found a spot under the trees that didn't let any direct sunlight through to your subject, it would be better. . Or if you just waited for a big cloud to move in front of the sun, that would be a big improvement. . And if you found a way to compose the background with no super-bright sky holes showing through the treetops, it would be better.

Photography is all about light, and we should look to use light to our advantage, rather than letting it work to our disadvantage.


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I have to agree with the folks above. My first thought was "Wow.. that tree branch has the same texture as her sweater." It's not the first thing my eye was drawn to, that would be her face, but right after, it was the tree branch arm. It is an odd pose, but not really bad, just odd.

Agree as well, might be of value for you to watch some pro youtube videos of how and where to crop.

Thank you so very much for the reply. Thats exactly what I was looking for.