You asked for comments on your pics. I don't know the legality of me lifting your photo and putting it here but I think this is the best way.

You have four photos in a row of this lovely nude woman in a forest. This one in b+w is my fave. Many photographers put nude models in the field and sometimes they look out of place. They look even more out of place when they are wearing bikinis. This picture is tightly cropped and I like how you hint at your model's bum. She belongs here, while she looks a bit uncomfortable in the three others.  There is one thing I always try to avoid and that is neck folds. Neck folds and arm pit folds tend to be the blackest blacks in a picture and you look at them first. The model's head on the left side merges with the background (or at least it does in my monitor screen). You may have wanted to experiment by moving her away from that darkness. The slightly out of focus effect of this picture gives it lots of charm. I hope this effect was intended. If not you should study what affects the sharpness of photographs. I really like your window pic avatar. I have one very small complaint. Any and every photograph is always a photographer's awareness and control of contrast. You might have used a large foam core reflector and moved it close and far until you had just the right amount of fill-in on your model's dark side. In fact foam core reflectors, tripods and window light make a very handsome combination.

Hi.

Thanks for all the suggestions.  You know, I didn't realize that my announcement would get interpreted at me looking for comments, I just meant it as an overall statement, but they never hurt!

I know being self taught is no excuse for lack of knowledge, but I've never used a foam reflector before.  I don't know if I've ever even seen on.   As for my avatar photo, do you really think the photo would be better if her dark side were lit up more?  Is melting into the background really a bad thing in photos?  I don't know if it is or not.

I'm glad you like slightly off focus of the photo.  Yes, a lot of my photos are like that.  Some by accident, some not.  I don't have auto focus on any of my cameras. I do my best to take the best picture, and most of them have this soft look to them.  I was trying to create a more ethereal look, give Tonya the feel of something a little more than natural.

I appreciate all the feedback.  I can tell from you work you've got a lot more knowledge and experience than me.  You're best kind of person give advice.

thanks,
scorp

Scorp

You write:  "As for my avatar photo, do you really think the photo would be better if her dark side were lit up more? Is melting into the background really a bad thing in photos? I don't know if it is or not."

Because I am a magazine photographer (I also shoot for newspapers) I learned early on to print photographs for reproduction. I have, in recent years, learned to scan for reproduction. But that foam core and just experiment with it. Move it back and forth and decide if you want it or not. The moment a photographer is aware of contrast and knows how to control it, that photographer is on his or her way to good photographs that happen by intent and not by accident. This avatar pic would be murdered by most newspapers. You will soon learn that your print photographs for gallery viewing and quite separately and differently for other uses. The famous photograph of the Minamata mercury poisoning in Japan by W Eugene Smith is a perfect example of the kind of photograph Smith had to manipulate for hours in his darkroom so that it could make the grade of Life Magazine.