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Dressed up / night out

When she's made an effort, a tight, badly-lit crop is a small heartbreak. The dressed-up shot is about showing the full look, with a flattering angle and one good light source you can almost always find.

A woman dressed up for the evening, full-length, shot from a slightly low angle in soft directional light from a doorway.

The annotated breakdown is inside.

The usual miss

A chest-up crop under a harsh bar light, flash bouncing off her face, the shoes and the whole silhouette cut off. She spent an hour on the look and the photo shows a third of it, lit badly. Or the opposite — a full-length from above that shortens her into a small, top-heavy figure. Either way, the effort doesn't make it into the frame.