Ron you have captured a lovely range of tones here and the hi-lights in her eyes are great. I would however crop out that hi-light on the left hand side.
Thanks Tex for the kind words and another helpful comment. Yes, I tried cropping that high-light as per your advice and blimey, it made a big difference. It pulled the range of tones on cousins face much more like a stuidio shot. You have good eyes Tex!
I think this is a very successful portrait. Like 'Tex' I find that highlight slightly distracting also, and I might have second thoughts about the cup and straw. But that catch light is great, her expression of relaxation is good, and the out of focus highlight details on the right are great! Nicely done.
- Thomas
Looking at this for a while, I'm tempted to crop from the top down also, to just below the top of her hat. I don't know if you agree or not, but to me the composition feels more natural that way. That way you also have more freedom to play around with the horizontal plane, and that small speck of highlight to the left doesn't bother the composition anymore.
(Also, if you can afford an M6 with a Summilux, you should not frown at paying the bill for your younger cousin... :-D Just joking).
- Thomas
Thanks Thomas and lensmagic for the kind words and the helpful comment. Here's a crop of the image removing the high lights. I wish I can remove the glass and straw. Seems cousin's photo look better than the original.