Critique of Ryan's Portraits

Ryan's Portraits


Photo 1: I like the off-center position of the subject and the contrast of the subject’s shirt against the background. The off-center positioning gives me the feeling that she is part of the scene, not just a subject against a backdrop. It creates a feeling of wholeness.  The exposure and depth of field are good, and the cool colors of the background contrast well with the subject’s pink shirt. The empty area of the courtyard to the right of the subject creates a subtle feeling of balance.

Photo 2: I like the lines of the parking structure behind the subject. When I initially looked at the picture I spent only a split second looking at the subject before I switched to looking at the diagonal lines created by the shadows on the I-beams behind him. A shallower depth of field would bring more attention to the human subject instead of drawing viewers into the background. The subject doesn’t have a visible shadow, unlike everything else in the frame. This made me wonder if he had been edited into the photo. The picture is well exposed, with bright areas in the reflections on the subject’s face and dark areas in the shadows of the trees and light post.

Photo 3: Again, the subject is somewhat overpowered by the backdrop. My eye was immediately drawn to the reflection of the building. The contrast of the reflection against the cool colors in the rest of the panes of glass grabbed my eye. As with picture 2, a shallower depth of field would bring the viewer’s attention back to the human subject. The color balance is good. I don’t see any obvious color tint. The photo is well exposed. The lost information in the shadows would distract from the subject if it were brought out.

Photo 4: The green backdrop and the subject’s green shirt draw your eye to the subject’s face, almost like the bull’s-eye on a target. I’m not sure if a shallower depth of field would take away from the bull’s-eye effect, but it would focus more attention on the subject. I like the two-color scheme of the picture. Everything is either green or gray, except for the pinkish color of the subject’s skin. The photo seems slightly under exposed. It has dark areas in the shadows of hallway on the left, but there aren’t many areas of bright color.

Photo 5: I like the contrast of the subject’s gray shirt, black hair and sunglasses against the mostly green backdrop. I would probably have tried to remove the mushrooms and leaves from the grass. They’re the second things I noticed in the frame. They break up the otherwise vivid green of the grass and take away from the contrast with the subject’s shirt. The photo seems well exposed, with the subject’s water bottle lid being slightly overexposed, but there aren’t areas of shadows leaving missing information.