Placing The Yellow !

Sooty_1 (Critique Team)

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8 May 2012 - 9:57 AM

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Not quite sure what you are intending with this shot? Is it supposed to be saying something?
I would have thought she would be placing the yellow on the table, rather than the cushion rail.
The single flash is extremely harsh, and the ugly shadows behind her don't add to the image. It also means her face and hand are bleached out, yet the yellow ball dominates. Her position doesn't look very comfortable, and the pose has caused her shoulders to hunch and her arms to look fat, and I'm not sure what part of her anatomy that is below her right hand - all in all, not very flattering.

If you had taken the picture over bed of the table instead, the flash would have still been harsh, but it wouldn't have reflected from the polished wood, so would have been slightly softer. A diffuser or softbox would also have been much better, as would angling the flash upward slightly (the light would have then been more 'grazing' and less direct). It would also have hid the parts of her body you don't wish to see.
I would also suggest the use of reflectors as well, to soften the light and improve the modelling on her face, and maybe a tighter crop to lose some of the background (the red blinds and radiator are not very photogenic). Even having the light on over the table would help, as she would then have a slight hair light: ATM it's all very contrasty.

Added a mod to try (with a basic program) to tone it down a little. Cropped, rotated slightly and contrast tweaked.

Nick