My daughter playing outside. We are so glad it is spring and we can get out of the house!
This was taken after the sun set behind our garage. The light is coming from the open sky and also bouncing onto her face off the side of our house. You can very clearly see our house in the catchlights.
Since one commenter mentioned it, I didn't do anything at all to her skin in post. I did very little editing in general, actually. If anything, I thought it was oversharpened.
I promise to find a new model for my next challenge.
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This is a terrific image and grabs your attention at first glance. IT really held me for a bit with the nice composition you created. The focus is crisp and the crop you have chosen works very well in this photograph. Your catch lights are very nice, as if peering into the heart of childhood. I think that wheeledd said it best below with "Cute shot of a kid with a dirty face but nothing to lift it to the next level." This really is a great shot, but with just a little time editing, it could be one that really pulls the viewer in and hold on. Whenever I critique a photo, I usually copy it and send it to photoshop to determine what I would have done with it. With this one, I spent just a few minutes and had something that I think would have drawn a ribbon. You stated that you thought it was over-sharpened. Perhaps on the skin, but the eyes really pop with the sharpening that you have here. I darkened the midtones to 0.88 with a levels layer, made a very minor curves adjustment with an S, added a Gaussian blur layer at * pixels and 55% opacity, then made a layer mask to uncover those beautiful, sharp eyes and those red lips. I ended up with a beautifully soft photo that had amazingly crisp eyes. Everything I used is allowed in the advanced editing challenges. Don't get me wrong, you have a very nice photograph to begin with. Nor I am saying that this is the only way to edit. But with just a few minutes of editing, you'd have a top ten, I believe. I hope these suggestions and this critique help.
What was wrong with the way her skin looked before smoothing it out with whatever they use there? Clashes fair bit with the rough look of dirt. Either she's a supermodel or it's a good action shot.
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