Editing advice?

April 1st, 2016
I really like this picture of my daughter, but two things are bothering me: the sunlight cutting across the background (I've already done some dodging) and the leaf that she's holding. Can or should either be edited? She's sitting in the shadow of the house, but is that poor placement for future use because of the sunlight after the shadow ends?

Thanks for input!

April 1st, 2016
Crop off the right side as we look at the image. It is negative space that is not helping the image. I like the contrast between the light clothes and the dark grass and the dark hair with the bright grass.
April 1st, 2016
I agree about the crop. Then there would be much less bright area to worry about. I would not worry about the leaf. I's what she found to keep her interested enough to keep still for the shot. That's what I infer from it anyway. It adds interest.
You could try burning in the bright area a bit to decrease the contrast... or even rubberstamping the darker green area over the brighter area. Depends on how much you want to work on it.
Its a beautiful shot of your daughter
April 1st, 2016
I'd certainly remove much of the empty stuff on the right, but I might also have tried for more room around the girl. She looks a little constricted. Glad she is doing well.
April 5th, 2016
This is a sweet photo and I know you will treasure it regardless.
For me the main thing that hits me immediately when I look at it is the eyes are a bit dark If this is a raw image and if you have Lightroom you can bring the shadow slider to the right and bring out the eyes a bit more. Whenever doing portraits the most important thing (in my opinion) are the eyes. They should be spot on sharp and be able to see them. I say this with knowing that rules are often meant to be broken in photography as well. But either way she is adorable.
April 28th, 2018
I think it's ok: It is true that the background is illuminated but the child is perfectly exposed and attracts attention
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