Boxer (Dog)

[abhijith.rao]

Bigger image


Shot handheld, outdoors, no flash.

EXIF from Flickr
Camera NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D80
Exposure 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 135 mm
ISO Speed 125
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash No Flash

[PrimeTime]

Originally Posted by abhijith.rao

Bigger image


Shot handheld, outdoors, no flash.

EXIF from Flickr
Camera NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D80
Exposure 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 135 mm
ISO Speed 125
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash No Flash

You didn't ask what you wanted critiue on. I'll give it an overall critique though.

The face is just a tad dark on my screen, a slight levels adjustment will fix it.

I would have removed the collar.

Pay attention to the background. There is a dark line from the treeline running through his head.

A larger lens with a smaller aperature will give a much better background blur, such as a 300mm at f/5.6. The greater the distance between the subject and background will also give more blur.

Find a background with a color that will make your dog stand out and add to the photo.

[abhijith.rao]

Originally Posted by PrimeTime

You didn't ask what you wanted critiue on. I'll give it an overall critique though.

Thanks, I was looking for an overall critique.

Originally Posted by PrimeTime

The face is just a tad dark on my screen, a slight levels adjustment will fix it.

I am on a MacBook Pro and I have noticed the difference between my Dell monitors and the mac ones. Sometimes I have just not been able to avoid it. Which screen are you looking at it on?

Originally Posted by PrimeTime

I would have removed the collar.

Didn't have an option, the owner in the park had it leashed. Or did you mean in Photoshop?

Originally Posted by PrimeTime

Pay attention to the background. There is a dark line from the treeline running through his head.

A larger lens with a smaller aperature will give a much better background blur, such as a 300mm at f/5.6. The greater the distance between the subject and background will also give more blur.

Find a background with a color that will make your dog stand out and add to the photo.

Those are actually people sitting in the distance. I agree, I should have used a smaller aperture, shot this at f/8. I should have come down to at least f/5.6 but was shooting some motorcycles and this dog just happened to be there. Will remember this for next time.

Nice dog but not mine!

[Laurenbiz]

What I noticed right off the bat is that the dog is just very, very slightly out of focus. Perhaps you moved just slightly, or he did, as you took the photo. I have this problem when I take photos of animals or flowers (especially if it's windy outside,) so I have my Rebel set on the 'continuous shooting mode' so I can keep my finger pressed on the shutter and take the exact same photo a few times in a row. And with animals, usually one will turn out nice and crisp! :-)

I think Primetime meant that you need a wider aperture to create more blur in the background. A smaller aperture will do the exact opposite. Or maybe he meant a smaller f/stop number, which would indeed be a larger aperture! I think the background blur is fine here.

Hope that helps :-)

[abhijith.rao]

Laurenbiz - That's true. I was shooting motorcycles that day and this dog happened to be passing by. Since the motorcycles were mostly static, I was shooting with a particular setting.
I should have ideally taken multiple shots of the same frame, I'll remember it for next time. Thanks.

The lowest I can come down to with this particular lens is f/5.6 at 135mm.