Kolby (the puppy)

[In The Moment]

I just received my first DSLR several days ago as a Birthday present. A Nikon D5000! Since I'm completely new to photography I thought I would post a picture that I took of my 6 month old puppy, Kolby. I really like the picture so I'm trying to figure out if other people think it's good as well or if I'm just bias. So, I guess my question would be:

What could have been done to make this picture better?

I also would like to say really quickly that I know I haven't used the rule of thirds. For some reason I'm noticing that I like really tight crops so I'm having a hard time with that rule.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[Murtasma]

Cute pup! A few things to try next time

Crop is really close, I would have like to at least see the top of the doggies head in the frame. Light is very harsh looks like its from a flash on the camera but I could be wrong. I think using softer light would look nicer, try using a window on a sunny day if you have some semi transparent curtains you can close to help soften the light. If you don't have curtains but have an off camera strobe or flash use an umbrella or soft box to soften the light. Your background looks good here and does not contain distracting elements which is good.

I think the expression on the dog is pretty average perhaps catching the dog as he yawns or barks can add a little more life to this playful pup.

Thank you for sharing

BTW: I move this over to the animals thread.

[Laurenbiz]

My biggest concern here is that the flash was used, which, in my opinion, makes the photo look like a typical snapshot.

Using higher ISO, a longer exposure, and/or a wide aperture can help to brighten the photo so you don't have to use flash, but I don't see that you posted that EXIF data here. I can't really tell you which one of those will help since I don't know what you used.

Enjoy your new camera!

[In The Moment]

Thanks so much for the feedback! I am so new to this and really don't know what I'm doing yet so any critiques are very helpful. The picture was taken in our hallway which doesn't have a light so next time I will catch him somewhere with natural lighting that way I don't need to use the flash to capture him. Thanks again!