Photo critique

[Laird Knox]

I'm curious what people think of this image. It is only a basic edit so color, levels and all that aren't correct. What I'm interested is what you think of the composition. I'm trying to figure out crop and angle. (Or if it just flat out sucks. )

Thanks

[Doylem]

The composition looks fine to me... giving the image an air of mystery...

[Bear]

That actually looks pretty good, the only thing I would suggest is that you try cropping it so the head is a little closer to center vertically. Note that I think it's something to try - it may or may not be better.

And I would really like to see it when you're done with the editing.

[snberk103]

Just for fun, lay a fibonacci spiral on top of the image. I have a feeling that some minor adjustments to the cropping might bring some of the image elements nicely into the spiral.

[seveej]

Nice photo, but my eyes got stuck on the red blotch of the elbow, and can't let go... May be just me, but I'm not cognizant of having a fetish for elbows.

RGDS,

[acearchie]

Bit square for me and there seems to be a bit to much pure black on the right.

[Laird Knox]

Originally Posted by Doylem

The composition looks fine to me... giving the image an air of mystery...

Can't say I don't like to hear that.

Originally Posted by Bear

That actually looks pretty good, the only thing I would suggest is that you try cropping it so the head is a little closer to center vertically. Note that I think it's something to try - it may or may not be better.

And I would really like to see it when you're done with the editing.

I'll give it a try while I'm playing with the cropping. As it is I'm dumping 2/3 of the pixels but it is still sitting at 12MP. At print size it is around 250 dpi.

Originally Posted by snberk103

Just for fun, lay a fibonacci spiral on top of the image. I have a feeling that some minor adjustments to the cropping might bring some of the image elements nicely into the spiral.

I hadn't thought of that. I believe Photoshop has that as an option - I know the crop tool in Lightroom supports it.

Originally Posted by seveej

Nice photo, but my eyes got stuck on the red blotch of the elbow, and can't let go... May be just me, but I'm not cognizant of having a fetish for elbows.

Actually that also jumped out at me. Once I was satified with the composition I was going to get to work on the image.

Originally Posted by acearchie

Bit square for me and there seems to be a bit to much pure black on the right.

Interesting - the target size is 12x16 so not quite square but I get where you are coming from. In this case I have a series of three images that I wanted printed at the same dimensions.

As far as the black goes it was dark outside and I was shooting against some black felt. This was a total experiment and I had never done anything like it before. I love the mirror effect from the water. It is something I will revisit but with better wardrobe and props.

Thank you for all the input.

For reference, the original file looks like this:

[snberk103]

Just for fun....

Made it square, and altered the cropping somewhat....

I think you have a great idea that needs exploring...

[Laird Knox]

I was looking at square for one of the other images so it isn't too far of a streach.

[genshi]

First off, great photo from the start!

Secondly, I usually shoot and prefer the square format, but in this case, a more rectangular crop would be better (in my humble opinion) as well as showing more of the model. If I may be so presumptuous, I took a shot at editing your photo...

[snberk103]

Originally Posted by snberk103

Just for fun....

Made it square, and altered the cropping somewhat....

I think you have a great idea that needs exploring...

Originally Posted by genshi

First off, great photo from the start!

... If I may be so presumptuous, I took a shot at editing your photo...

Interesting that we both de-emphasized the hand, either by darkening it or cropping it out entirely. Just for fun I re-cropped it without the arm at all. Hope the OP doesn't mind us mucking about with their image, eh?

[Laird Knox]

I don't mind the crops at all. There are a lot of things that I like about the image but the original shot just didn't do it. The idea of this post was to see the shot in other ways and that is what I got.

Since none of us had done any underwater work I was happy to get what I did.

[Prodo123]

To me the original crop looks a little weighted to the left; the negative space on the right is throwing the composition off a tiny bit. I'd crop the right side off a little.
That rose was a little distracting, but I see how it fits in to the theme of the photo. It just felt odd that she would have a rose by her chest underwater. But maybe I'm just carping...

Great shot! How did you take it? An underwater housing?

[Laird Knox]

Yeah, Nikon D800 in an Ikelight housing with a Tokina 11-16mm lens, two DS51 Substrobes and a big studio strobe above water (don't know the brand/model).

I brought a bunch of silk flowers and she kept grabbing them. There wasn't really any direction in the shots. It was a complete learning experience. I can't wait to try it again.