Arnold Picard DAD AND HIS GIRLS you really are stretching the limits of a portrait with this one – I think this is a grab shot rather than a thought-through portrait – the people need to be more tightly grouped and some of the clutter removed – this is an excellent story telling photojournalism type picture – I see it as a celebration of Father’s birthday, or other special event, with a few drinks and his most precious things around him – his daughters and his motoring stuff - so, a great story, but not a portrait, in my opinion – for using the right exposure and getting it sharp this is ACCEPTED

Thanks to this round Judge; Kay Goosen-Cooper

gallery pages: < 1 2 3 4

< 30 of 35 >

Lea Worley MORGAN
this looks like another one taken with the on camera flash – you need to diffuse the flashlight as its light is very harsh, as you can see here – it’s a pity the model’s hair merges with the background so completely – the camera is a bit low which means you are looking up into the nostrils, something to be avoided – the eyes are above the centreline and it’s quite sharp – reasonable modelling on the face – darkening the lower corners would give the image a stronger base. ACCEPTED

Mike Horder BECCY A LA VERMEER
not the most flattering portrait you could have taken – window lighting, which I’m presuming this is, can be very good, but often you need to tone down the one directional aspect of it by using a reflector to bounce light back onto the unlit side – a reflector could be a piece of white card or a bed sheet for example – just anything you can find to bring light into the dark areas - the whites are washed out and, again, it doesn’t appear quite sharp – a very good triangular composition. ACCEPTED

Arnold Picard DAD AND HIS GIRLS
you really are stretching the limits of a portrait with this one – I think this is a grab shot rather than a thought-through portrait – the people need to be more tightly grouped and some of the clutter removed – this is an excellent story telling photojournalism type picture – I see it as a celebration of Father’s birthday, or other special event, with a few drinks and his most precious things around him – his daughters and his motoring stuff - so, a great story, but not a portrait, in my opinion – for using the right exposure and getting it sharp this is ACCEPTED

Grant Waterman JOSH
although still full frontal lighting, this is a softer light and much kinder on the subject – good plain background lets the subject dominate, although he is having to compete with the white and blue symbols on his shirt – with a bit of time and effort, it is possible to eliminate the various white bits and blue bits – the skin tones are very nice and the eyes are pin sharp. MERIT

Jacquie Scott SAM
a lovely portrait of this animal - the bits which need to be sharp, the eyes in particular, are sharp – a general rule for portraiture is, keep the eyes above the horizontal centre line because the image then appears more balanced – as with all so called rules, they are there to be broken, however, in this case, it would be better to have the eyes higher in the frame – a crop from the top, almost to the top of his head and one from the right, almost up to the ear, would improve this – a little bit of work toning down the blotches in the background would also help – the colour is beautiful and there are good catchlights in the eyes. MERIT

Bob Steel GUS
again with the distracting writing – the child stands out well against the plain dark background – possibly a bit of computer manipulation used to get this effect?? – well done, but I think you’ve left a few tell tale bits behind – I am in no way marking you down for it, because you saw the need to eliminate a distracting background and did your best – his eyes are lovely and sharp and the lighting shows some modelling – a well balanced image. MERIT

Val Pohio BRIONY
there are several things you shouldn’t do in a portrait – 1; don’t look up the sitter’s nostrils, 2; keep the model separate from the background, they shouldn’t merge into it anywhere, 3; don’t have great washed out areas, and so on – well, you’ve managed to do all these things and still come up with a delightful image – this is different from a high key image, because in that you’d usually have more subtle detail and not quite so much black – her pose creates some lovely lines and angles and the whole composition is well balanced. HONOURS

Amy Ballantyne NEW TEXTURES
what a beautiful image and the title adds that extra little nuance to it – just one thing I’d like changed – darken the corners a mere smidgen and that will help to give more detail in the bottom, the baby’s bottom, not the photograph’s – the skin tones are gorgeous, the lighting is soft – the image is tightly cropped – just that top right corner is so washed out – but who cares!! – this is a Novice doing exceptional work. HONOURS

Arnold Picard DAD AND HIS GIRLS
you really are stretching the limits of a portrait with this one – I think this is a grab shot rather than a thought-through portrait – the people need to be more tightly grouped and some of the clutter removed – this is an excellent story telling photojournalism type picture – I see it as a celebration of Father’s birthday, or other special event, with a few drinks and his most precious things around him – his daughters and his motoring stuff - so, a great story, but not a portrait, in my opinion – for using the right exposure and getting it sharp this is ACCEPTED