happy birthday

[misterboring]

Took this a while back. My sis' birthday. I don't really do portraits often, so C&C appreciated.

[erik]

hmm... for me i would have focus on her instead?
unless the cake has some special meaning to you?

happy belated birthday misterboring's sister!

[ronnie_sjr]

An interesting portrait, however I feel that

1) The background is too messy and cluttered, especially the lights which seem to 'melt' into the girl's hair

2) The lighting is not very ideal. Understandable in that type of lighting conditions.. Well, maybe u wanna dodge her face a little to give it slightly more attention?

Nice attempt

[misterboring]

Originally Posted by erik hmm... for me i would have focus on her instead? unless the cake has some special meaning to you? happy belated birthday misterboring's sister!

On second thought, I guess that might have been better instead. I liked the way the cake looked though.

Originally Posted by ronnie_sjr An interesting portrait, however I feel that 1) The background is too messy and cluttered, especially the lights which seem to 'melt' into the girl's hair 2) The lighting is not very ideal. Understandable in that type of lighting conditions.. Well, maybe u wanna dodge her face a little to give it slightly more attention? Nice attempt

Thanks for the comments. Yeah this was quite a spontaneous shot. Should have thought of switching the lights off first. Anyway, how do you 'dodge' properly? I've tried lightening parts of photos before, but the lighter bits don't blend in with the rest of the photo.

[PointBlue]

One dodging tip that I can think of is to apply the dodge mildly, then compare a before and after pic. Dodging will naturally look unnatural while you're applying it, so its better for beginners to apply the effect while looking away from the screen (takes some skill), so you don't get affected by the change. Use a low exposure while dodging, like 10%, to help you visualize. Never overdo it.