My god...such a good concept but the execution is flawed...In my eyes the subject is blurred....and the most important part ....the "belly" is cropped bad...
I'd try this again with another challenge and change it a little.
Interesting celebration of life picture here. I would love to see this with just the hand cradling the plant. I know that takes out your other subject but I think it would be more powerful.
I like your concept. For me though, I wish the focus was more on the model than the plant, and perhaps a different background as it makes her skin look a bit...sallow.
what an interesting photo. i like the colors, the dof, and the composition of the image...would have liked to see just a BIT more of the face...lovely rich warm tone to this picture.
Is the plant 18 weeks old? I'm not quite sure what your thoughts were on this. I do wish the rest of her head was in the picture, and that she was wearing a different color shirt.
I had to look at the image long and hard before I understood just what exactly you were trying to convey in your image. You are trying to equate the imagery of a 'new growth' and a that of a growing life of a child in this image. The weakness is that it does not readily become apparent when one FIRST looks at the image. You need to make that statement and impact immediately when the viewer locks their vision on your photo. Don't get me wrong this composition has vast potential and I think you might want to revisit it after what I say.
You only need think of position on your elements and lighting. First of all the subject is holding onto a plant and the focus and action of the hand stretching out to present it to the viewer becomes the center of attention. The hand on the belly gets lost in the background and thus the message of the joy of a developing baby gets lost. You WANT to play up the growing promise of a healthy and happy child by showing the prominence of the belly growing bigger. You present the image where the viewer looks straight on at the front of the subject when you should have presented it as a side view to show us that she is pregnant. That would have then presented the problem of how do you present the plant. Easy, to show the promise of life, the joy of life, growing AND nurturing the image could have been presented as this as just one example:
A side view of a woman whose hand rest on her pregnant belly. The only portion of the human form that we would see is the upper torso. Her head bent, with a slight smile upon her lips she holds a watering can in her other hand and is watering the plant. A long arching stream of water comes out of the watering can and falls onto the potted plant. The action of her watering the plant with one hand while she rests her hand on her developing baby gives the viewer and instant connection that she is a nuturing mother. She is nuturing the growth of the plant as well as that of her yet to be born child. Not to mention that the stream of water falling from the watering can to the potted plant would be a very subtle nod at a "umblical cord" of life as that the water brings norishment to the plant just as the mother who holds a hand to her bellly does for her child. Lighting could be outdoors with more appealing background and not at the height of the afternoon hours when the sun is at it's highest - it washes out too much of the warm tones and provides too many shadows.
I love the symbolism of this. The growing plant.. the growing belly. Great DOF. I like the avacado background with the green of the plant. Very nice. (Congrats by the way)
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