portrait of my wife

Took this pic yesterday. I'm just getting use to my 40d, I'll be shooting a wedding with it on sept 13.

any C&C?

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The background does not complement what you are trying to do with the subject.

For one thing, there is a tonal merger between the background and her hair.

For another thing, the background is too cluttered and random - not only in terms of shapes and texture but also in the lighting.

A definite plus is that the lighting on her face is quite good, although it could be improved with some faint diagonal shadows just to enhance the 3-dimensionality.

There is a serious potential problem in using such a short lens. Portrait work should never be undertaken with a lens shorter than 50 mm in a 1.6 crop camera. There is too much potential for distortion. Use a longer lens!

I see what you mean with the hair blending into the background. I was using a 28-70 L lens on the wide end. I'll remember to step back next time and use more of the zoom. thanks for the reply.
rod

I would probably do some retouching and skin smoothing also. My wife thinks my raw unprocessed shots of her are OK. Once I retouch and smooth they are wonderful!

I'd ask her to try another shot with a plain tee shirt. This would make less distraction.
Also, a slight rotation in PS anticlockwise would straighten up to background give her a tighter tummy.

She has a cracking smile. A higher camera may open her eyes a little better too.