Just my dogs..... (just learning)

[ALCruz]

Still learning so CC appreciated:




His head is totally cut off but i love the water on his nose and tongue :) didnt want to toss it:

[SPW]

Hi Anita... Some observations and opinions.

Image 1 - Color looks good and focus on the eye (most important) looks good as well as the catch lights. It appears it was shot in harsh sun light resulting in some glare off the face. Early morning or late afternoon light will give you much more pleasing results. Even shooting in light shade with sun behind you will help reduce unwanted highlights and glare. The back ground is taking away from the subject as well. (More on that below.)

Image 2 - Absolutely adorable puppy in a great setting... in the bucket! Cute factor (CF) way up for sure! (Would love to see him wet, sittin' in that bucket with a dollup of soap suds on his nose.) The lines of the brick are taking attention away from your subject. Unless it's the focus of the image, generally you want to stay away from fences and bricks in your backgrounds (BG) as strong vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines generally distract from main subject in a portrait shot like this. You could also go vertical on this one as it would allow you to fill more of the frame with the subject..

Image 3 - Again CF way up... Great eye contact and pose with that tongue hanging out. Focus on the eyes is critical and it appears your focus point was on the nose. Stop the camera down (decrease aperature size) to increase DOF (Depth of field), focus mid way between the eyes and the nose and get both in focus... OR keep the same DOF and be sure to get the eyes in focus leaving the nose OOF (out of focus). OR... fill most of the frame with the nose making IT the center of attention can make for a fun image. Similar issues with the bricks as stated above... A vertical crop would eliminate the dead space either side of the subject and further focus attention on the subject. It looks like maybe you've lost some detail in the black parts of the image as well... nose and eyes. Better light and exposing more for the blacks can help here, but an essentially white dog with a black nose can be tricky to get just right.

These are only my opinions and you know what they say about those... Everybodies got one.

Only trying to be helpful here... NOT hurtful. None of us were born knowing how to do any of this.

Try some more and keep posting them... That's the only way any of us learn this stuff!

Hope this is of some use...


Steve

[SPW]

Anita... I truly hope you did not take offense at my comments. I was only trying to help.

Steve

[ALCruz]

lol none taking. It was very helpfull :) Thank you for replying.

[dtscds]

I like them!
As Steve said, on #1 the full sun didn't help you any. It sucks that the full sun helps with making sure you have plenty of light for exposure but then kills you on the colors etc. When I'm king I am going to make it so that midday sun is the best time for taking pictures!
The bricks do distract some on #2. I wonder if it would have helped if you moved him closer to them to really integrate them into the shot. I have seen this on people portraits and it works, why not for mutts? I would have liked a little catchlight in his eyes too. (Photoshop a bit in?)
#3--I don't mind the eyes slightly OOF. It might have been better if they were more blurry though. As it is they are not really out of focus but not really in focus either. It leaves you wondering if they were supposed to be sharp or not. The top of his head isn't an issue for me. Start watching advertising photos and you will see that lots of shots have part of the face cut off. Our brains kinda fill in the blanks. I like that his face fills up the frame.
Good stuff though! Keep posting!

[debbry531]

Cute pups! A lab puppy.... sigh. On #2 - I don't think the bricks themselves are too distracting, but the fact they they are only in half the shot makes them so. If they were the entire background, it'd probably be a cute background (keeping the puppy in a pot pose!). On the last - the head being cut off doesn't bother me at all. I agree that either a little more or less focus on the eyes would help.

On the first -- I have a black dog too so I know how tough they are to photograph! I've found the easiest place for me to get an decent shot is my front porch -- all the sunlight without the harsh sun or strong shadows. Anyway, I think a little post processing helps the first shot - I took the liberty (I hope you don't mind)...

[jstpeter]

Very good start! As previous folks have said. For dogs eyes are key! Make sure you get good focus and good light into the eyes. Also it appears that other then #2 these were just taken wherever the dog may have been at the given moment. I know it can be hard to get dogs to stay still but put some more thought into positioning and backgrounds. For example on #2 I think the brick wall would have made a great background and added great contrast to the yellow lab. So if you could have walked around to the right and then taken the shot with the wall in the background I think the photo would be stronger on two fronts. Profile of dog in tub and a nice contrasty clean background.

[Patti Edens]

I think you got lots of great advice and I can't add anything helpful there. I just wanted to chime in and let you know how much I enjoyed seeing your shots. Your pups are adorable and the middle shot in the tub is too cute!!

[garykohs]

I love the 2nd picture. Lots of potential there. I'd love to have the original, especially if you shot in raw. Dial up the exposure a bit, use the LR exposure brush to brighten the eyes even more, then use the brush to dial back the exposure on the wall. It would be a special picture.

Keep shooting and keep sharing!

[ttusa]

Awww...puppy in a tiny tub...