Joyby
arsenalComment by KaDi: Hello from the Critique Club!
The expression of the girl in this portrait is very engaging! Her eyes are bright and well lit. The color of the image is vibrant. The way she is half-hiding behind the tree lends a playful quality to the image.
The comments you received point out many of the same things I noticed, so I'll echo them.
The tree does take up a lot of the image--maybe a bit too much. It seems to demand attention simply because of its size. Could you have cropped more of it and still conveyed the idea of the tree?
The highlights in her hair come off as a bit unnatural. This could be because of using a flash or over-sharpening when you processed the image, or a combination of both. Her lips and some of the bark on the tree show similar effects.
Even though you have applied the wide border, your image still comes under the allowable 640 pixels on the long side. It also comes well under the 150 kb file size allowed for challenge entries. In this case it isn't a huge draw-back since the image is large enough and clear enough to enjoy. (There is a tutorial and currently a few threads discussing how to get your image to the greatest size allowable if this is something you want to work on.)
Usually I dislike large borders as they tend to create their own element and draw attention from the subject--in this case, your border helps balance the weight of the tree and brings emphasis to the girl's eyes and hair. If you cropped the tree, however, the border could shrink some.
I like this portrait. Even though it's what some would call "casual" or "environmental" I think it was well within the challenge guidelines. Because she is outdoors we have context and a hint of "story" to help us know her at that moment. Well done!
--Kadi
(Feel free to PM me if you want clarification on anything I've said.)
Photographer found comment helpful.