The barmaid

Comments please.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...atiebwblur.jpg

Something bothers me about the photo. I dont know what. Something about it makes me eyes wander around the whole thing. Maybe its her arm being blurry that bothers me...

i dont know whats that in the foreground, that big blurried thing, but thats what is distracting, and the blurried lights at the background, its nice that only the girl in focus, but its still not enough to lead my eye to her, and i think the pic could use a little more contrast :)

OK, 2 more versions. Which works best?

1.http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...tiebwblur2.jpg

2.http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...tiebwblur3.jpg

hey. i like the first of your 2 edits the most. maybe you could "level" her to point her out from the setting. maybe a little increase of contrast on the girl would do it. but that´s only my idea.

yeah i thought you'd gaussain blurred it or something.. i don't find it interesting or technically impressive i mean the shots okay.. and you're improving but it's boring, i mean a barmaid? what's the symbolism? what were you thinking the meaning was when you shot this, i don't mean to get too into the artistry of this but it's just not that interesting.. the second is by far the best though because of the shine on the bar pumps, and the 3rd just looks stupid. I see you're experimenting with post processing though which is good i don't mean to discourage you but perhaps going into depth with what it is you want to convey that way you might come up with something more interesting and such

OK, you're not likely to discourage me Deadloader because I'm doing a photography degree at the moment. My tutors (one of whom is a published portrait photographer) love this image, saying it is anything but boring. Look at Henri Cartier-Bresson's work, arguably the best street photographer ever. His subjects can seem dull, but it's the way you photograph them.
By the way, this image may be going in a brochure for the holiday park for next season.
Just out of interest, are you a photographer Deadloader?

2. version is far the best. mate you dont need any post process. i mean you can reach that effect simply with DOF. and i like it. but dont be that offensive, everyone have the rights to tell you he dont like your photo, cuz we are all different. thats all.

I wasn't being offensive stanx, I was just replying to his post.
I could get a similar effect to this with DOF but not quite the same stanx, cos everything on the same vertical plane as the objects in focus would also be in focus, so part of the bartop etc. But yeah, I could get a similar effect.