Formal Portrait Part 2

This is one of my favorite photos. I was taking pictures with my friend and everytime I asked her to smile, she didn't use her teeth. I wanted to catch a smiling picture so I started to make her laugh. Once she started laughing, I didn't only get teeth, but I got a true smile. I didn't get a fake modeling one, but a real smile that came from her laughter. I think that makes the photo more powerful right there. I then burned the background a bit to make my model stand out more. The lighting was great on her face but to get it exactly the way I wanted, I increased the contrast just a bit. It didn't take much to make my model look good in the photos. It was honestly hard to choose the best ones because each had different elements that all worked in similar ways. This photo almost looks like a candid portrait but I wanted to use it as a formal portait becasue it contains all of the elements I look for in a formal picture. Although my model had just got out of the gym and was tired, she was a trooper and didn't let it show in the photographs. I think this is a simple, yet great shot that contains great emphasis, proportion and value.