I love this shot with the gorgeous scenery and the beautiful girl, however I would say that it's hard to know exactly what your intended focus is. I'm no pro though, and I do think this is a beautiful shot!
I think its stunning. If I had to pick it apart, I would just move her hand off her head, maybe keep her hair off her face by putting her sunglasses on her head. Its just her arm that feels wrong to me. Love that she's leaning on the pole, love that she's sitting, love the blue blue sky and the landscape behind her. Great shot!
I have to agree with @mariboo that I am not sure if it is portrait or a landscape and at this positioning they are battling each other. You may have wanted to move to the right when taking the photo to put her a bit more in the center. Also you may want to adjust the focus to her instead of focusing on everything. Sometimes the best way to get the photo right is not to move the subject, but to move yourself.
I am so far from pro it's laughable, so feel free to discard if it seems stupid: I see a pretty girl in front of pretty scenery. If it's a pic, it's fine, but if it's a portrait I would want to see more of the girl. Maybe rotate so your are shooting at an angle that includes her and the ocean instead of so much of the city, or get the city and sky but not the ocean? It seems like a little too much background for a portrait...but again, that's just my opinion :)
I think it's a great photo. Something that hasn't been mentioned yet is the fact that this was obviously shot in broad daylight, and the sun has cast a rather harsh shadow on the ground, which (I feel) distracts from your subject and also makes it rather uncomfortable for her to look up. I think that if you shot this on a slightly less sunny day, or of there was a patch of light shade somewhere, then you would be able to be rid of the shadow, and also allow your subject to be photographed without wearing sunglasses! :)
The pose is a bit off. It is too stiff and awkward. this is completely common in people who are not models. She looks as if protecting her midsection and the right arm pose does not look natural.
A solution? Have her sit and relax, perhaps have a conversation with her while looking through the lens. When she isn't prepared, snap. Or send her to modeling school.
As mentioned, the sun is a bit harsh. Also, her clothes are a problem. The colour compliments the ground colour. Perhaps if it contrasted more, she might stand out as a stronger element.
And, as mentioned, tough to decide what type of photograph this is. If this is a portrait, move in; she is not prominent enough. It it is a scenic, move back; she is too prominent.
I am far from an expert but things I like to try is shooting at a range of angles so may lower down so that there is less foreground in focus. If you had a ladder you could also shoot from above, looking down so you can still get the city but a different angle. Maybe even coming in over her shoulder while she is sitting there. I agree it depends on what you want your focus to be.
As others have said shooting in the morning or late arvo to evening as the city lights are coming on would be beautiful too. It's a great shot though! Gorgeous scenery
Kinda looks odd Cade... I can see a City-girl hopefully in front of her own city (background) but she kinda looks like she's been driven up to the hill and plonked down in front of a post. A different outfit, or a different pose would work. Or a different location.
i like the one you linked on fb... although the focus isnt perfect the 2 elements (girl and land) dont seem to be fighting against each other for the spotlight as they are in the one you posted here first :) what a freaking spectacular view though! :)
I like the FB one better but she is still not the subject with so much going on. I really like eyes in portraits and with dark glasses you cant see them. Nice shot but as a portrait I think you need to make her more of the subject- something to separate her from the scene.
It's fine as a a candid snapshot if the intention is to capture a trip to that area.
Not that I'm an expert, but I did once own a portrait studio...so here is my opinion.
I feel if you wanted to have more of a portrait, then I would have had her take her hand off her head and put it on the back of her neck (under her hair) so the hand is not so much of a distraction. And of course if it were for a portrait, she would probably not being wearing the big sunglasses that hide her eyes. You could also have her shift her weight more onto the hip facing the camera to slim her and have her left hand down to the side more...NOT that she needs it. But what girl doesn't appreciate looking even thinner. ;o)
I personally don't mind the off center cropping... but I would crop it in a bit more - enough to lose the top of the post that's cut off. That way you still have scenery but you can see her better as well.
As a final touch, I'd use some dark vignetting to make it look "richer" and it would help draw the eye of the viewer into her.
I am definitely not a pro when it comes to editing. I would lose some of the background and foreground so it would look like "I" zoomed in more on her. I would first try cropping some off the left and some off the bottom. I like the above idea of adding a dark vignetting.
Here's my two penn'orth. The sun is your enemy in this shot. Even with the glasses on - not usually good for a portrait - she still looks like she's squinting because she's looking into the sun. So have her face the view. With a bit of juggling you might be able to get a profile shot of her wistfully looking out across the stunning view.
The strong shadow doesn't help because she's wearing black and you can't see where she ends and the ground begins, making her derriere indistinct.
That post isn't helping either - it draws your eye to the top of it because it ends in frame and there's the tree to the right of it. Crop tighter on the right just a couple of inches past her arm (get rid of the knot near her elbow).
I guess most of my comments are pretty similar to everyone else's. As it is, it looks like a "wish you were here" snapshot, rather than a portrait. Some of the things I would suggest might include the following (remember that everyone's got their own tastes and what I think could work might not coincide with what you like; take it all with a grain of salt):
- Keeping your model in more or less the same position within the frame, move yourself to your right just a bit, rotating your view more towards the sea.
- Drop your position a bit to be more eye-level with her (as it is, it gives a feeling of looking down on her).
- Don't have her look into the camera. Personally, a portrait against a landscape should generally be approached as the photographer coming across the person contemplating the scene; it shouldn't feel like a posed shot. Here, if she were looking out over the sea (in the direction her feet are pointing, it would have been more efective, I think.
- Wait until later for a shot like this; the sun is too harsh at this time of day.
- Use reflectors or fill flash or something that you can place to your right (opposite the sun) to fill in those harsh shadows.
- Use a large aperture (low f number) to provide you with a much more shallow depth of field. You don't need to see the landscape clearly; just enough to place your model in the right setting.
In this link, I've uploaded a (heavily) Photoshopped version of your shot to illustrate a bit of what I mean. It was a quick job and I've overdone some of the effects, but it still gives you something of an idea: http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk172/ZhigRota/Critique4Cade.jpg
I would have either gotten down more on her level to shoot, or even closer to her and looking more down on her, for a more interesting angle. Also would have found better light so there wasn't a huge shadow over her face. I haven't read through tge responses yet, so I apologize if these were already mentioned
I was going to add something that David said. f-Stop is your friend. For a shot like this I I try to keep my lens as open as I can. You get the atmosphere of the city view, but it doesn't distract. Alas big f-stops = big $.
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A solution? Have her sit and relax, perhaps have a conversation with her while looking through the lens. When she isn't prepared, snap. Or send her to modeling school.
As mentioned, the sun is a bit harsh. Also, her clothes are a problem. The colour compliments the ground colour. Perhaps if it contrasted more, she might stand out as a stronger element.
And, as mentioned, tough to decide what type of photograph this is. If this is a portrait, move in; she is not prominent enough. It it is a scenic, move back; she is too prominent.
As others have said shooting in the morning or late arvo to evening as the city lights are coming on would be beautiful too. It's a great shot though! Gorgeous scenery
Not that I'm an expert, but I did once own a portrait studio...so here is my opinion.
I feel if you wanted to have more of a portrait, then I would have had her take her hand off her head and put it on the back of her neck (under her hair) so the hand is not so much of a distraction. And of course if it were for a portrait, she would probably not being wearing the big sunglasses that hide her eyes. You could also have her shift her weight more onto the hip facing the camera to slim her and have her left hand down to the side more...NOT that she needs it. But what girl doesn't appreciate looking even thinner. ;o)
I personally don't mind the off center cropping... but I would crop it in a bit more - enough to lose the top of the post that's cut off. That way you still have scenery but you can see her better as well.
As a final touch, I'd use some dark vignetting to make it look "richer" and it would help draw the eye of the viewer into her.
The strong shadow doesn't help because she's wearing black and you can't see where she ends and the ground begins, making her derriere indistinct.
That post isn't helping either - it draws your eye to the top of it because it ends in frame and there's the tree to the right of it. Crop tighter on the right just a couple of inches past her arm (get rid of the knot near her elbow).
But it's all subjective, I only know what i like!
- Keeping your model in more or less the same position within the frame, move yourself to your right just a bit, rotating your view more towards the sea.
- Drop your position a bit to be more eye-level with her (as it is, it gives a feeling of looking down on her).
- Don't have her look into the camera. Personally, a portrait against a landscape should generally be approached as the photographer coming across the person contemplating the scene; it shouldn't feel like a posed shot. Here, if she were looking out over the sea (in the direction her feet are pointing, it would have been more efective, I think.
- Wait until later for a shot like this; the sun is too harsh at this time of day.
- Use reflectors or fill flash or something that you can place to your right (opposite the sun) to fill in those harsh shadows.
- Use a large aperture (low f number) to provide you with a much more shallow depth of field. You don't need to see the landscape clearly; just enough to place your model in the right setting.
In this link, I've uploaded a (heavily) Photoshopped version of your shot to illustrate a bit of what I mean. It was a quick job and I've overdone some of the effects, but it still gives you something of an idea:
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk172/ZhigRota/Critique4Cade.jpg