The Pose, Expression, Light and Framing Make It Exceptional
Judy Tobin – Beautifully Framed Portrait of Amy
There are times when the best portrait is unplanned and spontaneous, no time spent looking around for the perfect background and light conditions, no time to get “uptight” and worry about dress, hair, expression, etc. In this image everything simply fell into place and it worked. The door opening to the duck cage framed the subject beautifully, the natural light illuminated the subject while leaving the background dark. Placement of the hands is natural and the joy in the smile is not forced in any way. The story is completed with a couple of remaining ducks, dimly lighted, visible inside the secondary frame. The final touch is the openings in the rear wall, just enough to be visible and add interest without being distracting. When you’re good enough to plan all this and bring it off, you’re an exceptional photographer.
Judy and her husband Paul were buying ducks for their pond and Amy (one of the owners of the farm ) had just handed them the last duck when Judy and her Sony DSC-T77 camera captured the scene. Job well done.
It is a great shot and the composition takes your eye in to see all the curious details in every corner…there is also a very tactile feel to all the different textures!
Lovely cheery photograph. I like how the lady is not just framed by the opening, but actually hemmed in, causing her smile to sweetly squeeze out with a trifle more velocity! While the wire grid in the right panel provides forward elements and appropriate leading lines in the layout, the dark space behind supplies passive depth. The goose adds quiet relevance to the exercise. Floating spaces of green, in the background, key in well with Amy’s t-shirt. In fact, I think I agree with George!
Judy, I loved this one when you first showed it to me and I second everything George had to say. I’d add that the shot is nicely divided vertically into two halves – it makes me move my eyes horizontally, which gives it a wonderfully calm feeling. And it was a great instinct to position Amy on the left half of the picture. This puts the emphasis on her because we tend to ‘read’ anything two-dimensional from top left to bottom right. Good work!
Dottie
Love the expression. You can feel the emotion in this one. Great job
Judy,
Congratulations, you stepped up to the professional catagory with such grace and speed, keep it up, great photograph.