Constructive opinion wanted

Could I get some opinions on this image?

Horrible pose, lackluster background, and terrible facial expression. Sorry but this is one for the bin.

I am sorry to say Mark is right... It appears you just had her sit down for a quick shot. The background is wrinkled, etc... However it appears (IMO) the lighting on her face is good. What were you trying to accomplish when you took this photo? Maybe that will help in some critiques?

i generally don't say things like this, but this photo doesn't have a single redeeming property.

The only reason i spoke up in such a way is that i have seen some of your recent posts, and know that you are making an effort reinvent yourself. Your past work has largely, maybe exclusively, been shot outside so i'm wondering if you are trying to get into studio work as a way to do something new. You are just learning to be more critical of the work you've already been doing, it might be worth your time to stick with what you know until you are more comfortable with that, then move on to the next thing.

Bad pose, knees separate, toes turned in, shoulders square, sitting on her hands, nothing in that pose is appealing or engaging. The off center crop looks unbalanced. I'd be curious to hear what you were thinking with this framing?

Agreed. Not much else to say.

Bad expression and odd crop stand out.

Aside from this photo being a serious candidate for a poster on "what not to do". I'll put in my 2 cents and hopefully I can be constructive.

1) The choice of focal length has much to be desired. It looks like the photo was shot at around 35mm-40mm at about eye level. Judging by the distortion in the feet compared to the rest of the body. Generally you want to be at at least 50mm or higher for portraits.

2) The lighting is very flat with no direction it looks as though it was bounced off the ceiling as you can see a bit of fade toward the feet and shadows under the chin. If you want to make the most of of a studio setup I suggest using proper studio lighting and learn to use it otherwise it will look like... well this.

3) The pose. Females generally look better turned slightly 3/4. You rarely if ever want to shoot females square shoulder to the camera.

4) Hands... they need to be doing something not hiding under her legs.

I have had lights for a while now but don't have a lot of room for them. I really have to shift my den around to play with them so I don't do this everyday because of the amount of work. I was trying to work on lighting a little bit. My child was not to thrilled about sitting in front of the camera. I used 2 Photogenic 1500SL lights with 24x36 softboxes to the side and a off camera flash through an octobox in the front. I was trying to get lighting and color right.

What should have been the light placement?

Lack of room is an issue. You need the backdrop farther away from the model. Start with lights at 45 deg and have one as the main, one as the fill. Posing has been mentioned by others. Always difficult with an unwilling victim.

I got off of work and on the way home I decided to trash the den and take some more images. I get so aggravated with myself. I want to conquer this!

Last one

Still gotta work on your crops. Cutting off the elboe in the first new shot of your daughter is not good. The second shot is also oddly cropped. It looks like you are going for a rule of thirds crop but that fails when the subject is square to the camera. The negative space might work outside the studio where that area had some visual impact. But as is its just a big heavy blob of boring competing with your subject. For now forgrt about the rule of thirds and creative cropping, its killing your shots.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17263736
Still gotta work on your crops. Cutting off the elboe in the first new shot of your daughter is not good. The second shot is also oddly cropped. It looks like you are going for a rule of thirds crop but that fails when the subject is square to the camera. The negative space might work outside the studio where that area had some visual impact. But as is its just a big heavy blob of boring competing with your subject. For now forgrt about the rule of thirds and creative cropping, its killing your shots.

Like this is SOOC with a little sharping

mdaddyrabbit wrote in post #17263751
Like this is SOOC with a little sharping

Her face is in the middle of the frame and a full third of the frame is empty space above her head.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17263768
Her face is in the middle of the frame and a full third of the frame is empty space above her head.

I cropped it down.....what else do I need to do?