please critique

I posted this in the people forum a few days ago. I am posting it here for critique to help me improve. This is the first time I have been brave enough to post in this section. LOL. It was taken in natural light by a window. Iso 400, 2.8, 1/60. the bottom the the hand was cut off in camera so I cant do anything about that. Does it ruin the shot?

Thanks

I am adding a crop also.

It's a lovely shot. If I had to nitpick, I would say the lighting is a little harsh. Was it diffused through some sheer curtains? I little less exposure would lessen the "hot-spots" on the right side, but would result in much darker shadows on the left. I don't think that is the result you are looking for (moody child shots aren't always nice). Try a reflector and see what happens. The focus is bang on and the framing of the second shot really works for me too.

Thanks for the suggestions. The next time I will diffuse the light through the window and use a reflector and see what happens.

Little bit of layering, slight gaussian blur (except eyes), worked on reflected light on pupils, some vingetting, burned out pink! pants.

At first, I was a little bothered by the serious look of the pose, but now I am OK with that. Still, I would have liked to have seen a shot with a smile.

Rad

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By the way, it is perfectly acceptable to post the same shot BOTH in the appropriate "Share Photos" section for the purpose of sharing, AND here in "Critique Corner" for the purpose of skills improvement. Don't feel as though you have to choose one or the other.

Rad

Radtech: I like your edit very much. I understand everything you did except the vignetting. Can you explain how you did that. It was a good idea to get rid of the pants. It really improved the shot. I got lots of smile shots that day but i just really liked this one.

Assuming a Photoshop product:

Use the Ellipse selection tool, with the feathering set very high. I used 50 pixels for your shot. You would need to use more for a non-reduced shot. Select the face (or whatever area you want to remain light), then invert the selection. Ctrl+C Ctrl+V to paste a new layer. The new layer should have a very soft edge hole in it where the selection was. Then just adjust the contrast and brightness of the layer. Alternately, you could set the layer blend mode to Multiply and adjust it's opacity.

If it is too dark in areas you want light, just use the erase tool, with hardness set to zero and opacity about 20%, and use that to brush away the inadvertent dark areas to reveal the light below.

Rad

Thanks Rad, I will give it a go. I am so glad I got brave enough to post in this section. I have learned some new thinks already.

And that is what makes a day worth grinding through. The opportunity to have a new think or two.

Rad