Adrienne Rowley SHOE SHINE MAN this is also very busy – the light is full sun and therefore there are black shadows and very washed out whites – what a pity you chopped off the foreground shoe – because it is so bright, it catches the eye and distracts from the person – I think you could have told the story just as well by cropping close in to the figure - from the knees down and almost to his shoulders on each side, keeping his head near the strong third – this would be simpler and much more powerful. ACCEPTED

Thanks to this round Judge; Kay Goosen-Cooper

gallery pages: < 1 2 3 4 >

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Barry Quayle PHIL THE FOLK SINGER
although the guitar underlines the fact he is a singer, it’s actually the predominant thing in the picture – combine that with the tangle of microphone and hand covering his face, and where’s the portrait? – OK I said the eyes are the most important part of a portrait, but this has only his eyes – his hand and hat cover the rest of his head – the colours are rich – the guitar creates a nice diagonal – however, I don’t consider it portrait. NOT ACCEPTED

Rod Macleod YOUNG DRIVER
the dominant thing in this picture is the car, not the child – soft lighting means no harsh, heavy shadows, which of course is a good thing – unfortunately, the plane of focus is not on the child, so he’s rather fuzzy – good skin tones and his eyes are to die for! – by B Grade I expect more, particularly control of your focus. NOT ACCEPTED

Heather Macleod EMMA
good tight cropping and nice catchlights in the eyes – but the yellow lighting has had an ugly effect on the skin tones – when you are taking portraits, don’t just grab a shot, give some thought to it - consider the clothing, is it dominant and distracting? – is the subject relaxed? – are there other distractions, like a messy background or messy hair? NOT ACCEPTED

Thierry Huet BEST FRIENDS
sorry, but the extremely harsh cross lighting has created dense shadows and distortions in both boys’ faces – the eyes have no catchlights and the background, although out of focus, is very distracting – I expect more from an A Grader. NOT ACCEPTED

Allen Hogan MADONNA WITH CHILD
this one is just so very busy! – the child has a stripey top, the mother has a lacey top, her hair is somewhat dishevelled, and finally there’s that very frilly umbrella – her hand holding the umbrella is at the most unflattering angle – the child is looking at her, mother is taking no notice of the child – her eyes are turned too far, leaving us with mostly the whites of her eyes – I’m sorry to shoot your effort down in flames like that, but you’ve gotten the lighting right and the ‘print’ quality is superb, so you know what you’re doing, you just need to take a tad more care with the details. NOT ACCEPTED

Tim Pierce BRIGHT AS A BUTTON
the close cropping has eliminated any need to worry about the background, but I do think a bit more at the base would be better – I don’t mind the crop into the top of her head, but her lips are just too close to the bottom edge – the eyes belie the title, as they seem rather dead, without any real catchlights – nice and sharp throughout. ACCEPTED

Adrienne Rowley SHOE SHINE MAN
this is also very busy – the light is full sun and therefore there are black shadows and very washed out whites – what a pity you chopped off the foreground shoe – because it is so bright, it catches the eye and distracts from the person – I think you could have told the story just as well by cropping close in to the figure - from the knees down and almost to his shoulders on each side, keeping his head near the strong third – this would be simpler and much more powerful. ACCEPTED

Graeme Kennerley COME TO THE CABARET
I’ve no idea how you achieved this effect – there are no real blacks in her face, not even the blacks of her eyes, even though the background is a rich black – the catchlights indicate an on camera flash was used, but her eyes should not be affected in this way – nice tight cropping – turning the shoulders and bringing back the face are good aspects of her pose – the eyes are above the centreline, so the composition is balanced – on the premise that you wanted this effect, even though I don’t like it, I am giving you an ACCEPTED

Barbara Lee FRAN
a good pose and the eyes, although turned a little too far away from us, are sharp and have good catchlights – think about the whole subject when you tackle a portrait in particular – this girl’s hair could be neater – it would look much nicer – she’s a tad squashed over to the right and could be closer to the centre – in this case you have her shoulders face on to the camera – it would be better if they were also angled away, like her head is – the skin tones are a smidgen muddy, but a lighter print would fix that. ACCEPTED

Adrienne Rowley SHOE SHINE MAN
this is also very busy – the light is full sun and therefore there are black shadows and very washed out whites – what a pity you chopped off the foreground shoe – because it is so bright, it catches the eye and distracts from the person – I think you could have told the story just as well by cropping close in to the figure - from the knees down and almost to his shoulders on each side, keeping his head near the strong third – this would be simpler and much more powerful. ACCEPTED