Another good photo!

I can't believe my luck!! I submitted this pic of my friend's little girl for my class and I got another good critique. It's not quite as good as the rose, but it made it to the "photo of the week" section (a big deal in my small world). The assignment was "Do's and Don'ts". I submitted it as a "don't" because of the day's harsh lighting and a "do" because I didn't wait for a smile and took a much more natural picture.

I've had two good pictures in a row, so maybe my eye is getting a little better. One can hope!

Here's the critique:

The portrait of the young girl and the cat is lovely. I love her expression, and the way she's holding the little cat is very cute. Even though the sun was out, you can't really call that a “don't” because the sun was not on her. It's fine if the sun is shining as long as your subject is in the shade. The only thing that bothers me about this picture a little is the graphic lines in the background. Any time you have boldly defined horizontal, vertical, or diagonal lines behind your subject, they are usually distracting. They are so graphic that they pull our attention away from the subject. If you stop and think about it, when you see prominent lines behind a subject, and those lines are not part of the subject itself, they vie for our attention. That is not an ideal situation. Our attention should stay primarily focused on the subject.