Dog in black and white

[hciere]

First time posting in this section! I would like some feedback on 1) the composition of this shot, 2)whether his nose being out of focus detracts from the impact of the photo, 3) should I do anything about the sunny spots behind him?, and 4) how is the black and white conversion?



EXIF
Camera Canon EOS 50D
Exposure 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 28 mm
ISO Speed 500
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

Any feedback is most appreciated.

Heather

PS - I use Mac's Aperture for editing.

[Laurenbiz]

Here are my answers!

1-Composition is nice. I like the centered, simple set-up here
2-I do think the photo could have more of an impact if the nose was in focus (sorry!)
3-The background is a little busy for my tastes - you could easily use the clone stamp and/or brush tool to fill in parts of the background so they are not as busy
4-B/W conversion is just fine!

[sourabhdasimages]

My suggestion was the photo should have been in color.. i am unable to see the dogs color.

[RecurrentNerve]

1) Good. The subject is central but the eyes are a third of the way down the shot, a good thing.
2) Not at all. The eyes are the most important thing in any shot of anything with eyes, and they are nicely focused and expressive.
3) You could possibly try and dim the white sun-stripes a little, yes.
4) It is just a tiny bit grey - the areas of greatest contrast are in the background, where really they should be on the subject. Play with the levels a little to try and get the white fur as white as possible without blowing it out - select the subject to just adjust him.

Overall a good shot, well done.

[Eileen D]

I agree that the composition is fine and the eyes are definitely the focus with their sharpness (though might it be possible to lighten the eye on the dark side just a bit?). I also think some darkening of those light spots would add to the impact. Very cute dog!

[hciere]

Awesome! Thank you all for your suggestions. I will give it a try.

Thanks again for the feedback!

Heather

[lukedonald]

Cute color combination.