OK! This is a nice snapshot with a pretty subject and a nice expression. I will not critique this as a formal portrait or even a casual outdoor image with professional portrait qualities. If the young photographer is interested in portrait techniques- I can get into those principles. I can say that the young fellow has some talent in getting natural expressions and attracting the attention of the pet in the image.

The big technical problem with the image is the skin tone- in the unedited image, it is magenta/blue and requires the addition of yellow/green. There is some residual cyan color in the whites, but this may be due to UV brighteners in the white fabric which tends to flourless on overcast days when the UV levels are high.High UV is not ordinarily a big issue with digital photography as it was in the film era but on very overcast or even certain cloudy/bright days the addition of the (often controversial)skylight or UV filter can do wonders for the color quality in all kinds of portraits which usually are more flattering when the color balance is on the warm side. I sometimes use my old UV-16 filter to clean up theses issues.

In this image, the lighting is coming in from directly above the subjects and has left the eyes and the eye sockets lacking in shadow detail and good catch-lights. In edition, I have dodged the eyes and the eye sockets and emphasized the dim catchlights on the subject and her doggie! I killed a few blemishes on her forehead- young ladies don't like skin issues.

The retouching is short and sweet- a 5 minute job!

Encourage the kid!

:thumbup:

My grandson has a D90, and is a good photographer. He took this photo of a girl, but complained to me that he thought the image showed a lot of digital noise and wanted my opinion. I told him I would post it here and ask the experts, as I thought the final product was a pretty good picture. The first one is the original, the second got a slight LR treatment. The image is a JPEG. He said the details were as follows: Nikon D90 with Sigma 70-200 f/2.8, at 70mm. the exposure was set at ISO 500, and a 125th at f/2.8 in overcast conditions. He shot it in aperture priority.

Ryan would appreciate any good input here. Thanks in advance, guys.

Hi Wingpilot and all! Happy New Year!
Ryan did a nice job with his capture. The second part, of course, is the post processing. Please get him a subscription to KelbyOne to really learn about the post processing and photography in general. It looks like he has a nice start.
My rule #1- it's NEVER about the camera! His current D90 is absolutely fine. I believe my post confirms this.
My rule #2- amateurs, in any field, are all about the equipment. Professionals are all about the knowledge and final result.
Any camera in the hands of someone who knows the craft will be able to deliver nice results.
So, I started with Ryan's nice image and processed it as I saw it. A nice young girl and her dog maybe out for a walk. Corrected color, density, vibrance, levels, crop, 'fixed' her windy hair, smoothed the jacket collar, slight brighten to eyes and teeth, overall 30% surface blur (adds depth & lessens noise- 2 for 1), erased the blur on both faces, added slight vingette, smart sharpened final file at 35% and .05. That's a wrap, 20 minutes.
PM me if I can help Ryan with any info.