Copchil

I wasn't going to bother writing a formal critique, mostly because I don't have a lot of time. To be honest, this is the first critique I have ever bothered to leave anyone, on this site. I also don't bother requesting them.

My reason being that, in my experience, critiques on this website tend to be far too aribtrary to be of any real use to the artist. But then I came across the rather naive and unflattering critique left on this piece, by another deviant. As an experienced child photographer, I just had to spare a few minutes of my time to sing its praises.

I'm always amused when I come across negative feedback about someone else's work, I click on the name of the person who left it, and then I discover their own work is maybe a fraction as impressive as that which they are critiquing.

On the surface, this image appears to be a simple, generic snapshot of a little girl. But I see so much more.

First of all, the crispness of the image is outstanding. That alone puts it above about eighty percent of the similar shots found on this website. The photographer either employed a tripod, has an image stabilizer, or just a very steady set of hands.

The color is naturally vibrant, and appears to be no more than just slightly retouched, if at all.

The depth of field reveals a vast amount of space behind the subject, an almost too blurry to make out landscape, which invites the viewer to decide where exactly this might be taking place.

The child's eyes are just mesmerizing, the little flecks inside them just naturally corresponding with color elsewhere in the image.

Even the choice of a turtleneck and the child's earrings compliment this piece.

Her pose is anything but generic. Unlike many shots of its kind, it reveals a complexity of personality. Her smile doesn't seem fake or posed. She is initiating a pleasant confrontation by looking directly back at the viewer.

Excellent.