Dog tangled up

[KrystaMae]

Okay, so I am VERY new to photography, and any feedback is appreciated.
How can I improve composition?
How can I improve the overall photo?
Is it sharp enough?
Should I have made certain things less focused?
Any other comments are welcome (just not bad ones)

[Dazyl]

Hi KristaMae -- welcome to photography! It's a blast, and although I haven't been here in the forums for a very long time, I know that you'll get some terrific feedback and insight on this site.

For this shot, I'm going to assume you didn't do anything in post-processing (though I think perhaps you did some shadow-lightening and sharpening?)

Funny how some dogs are so agile and willing to climb around on things like woodpiles, yes? And I bet he was totally confounded when he got his leash all messed up.

If you hadn't given a hint about the tangled leash in your post title, though, I wouldn't have realized that was what was happening. Composition-wise, you're a bit too far away from your subject. If you couldn't step in closer (easily possible), then perhaps a zoom? As it is, though, the dog is lost in the competing elements in the photograph -- particularly the woodpile.

Also -- the whites on the subject-dog are over-exposed. Presumably, the camera metered on the woodpile -- a pretty dark area compared to the white areas on the dog. To properly expose the wood, then, the camera shutter was open a tad longer than was good for your subject. (The over-exposure appears again in the upper and upper left areas in your image as well.)

Finally -- is this the full image? Or a crop? Because if it is the full image, I'd definitely try a crop, placing the dog (and his troublesome leash LOL) on the left, and toward the lower end, of the frame.

Does this help?

[cm121886]

Great start, I agree with Dazyl the shot is to far away I assume you wanted the dog to be the focus of the picture and right now my eye is directed towards the wood pile. A couple steps closer and zoom and we will be able to see the dog and his leash and enough of the wood pile to get the point that the leash is tangled. Also the picture seems over exposed again I think this will be aided by moving closer so that less light will be coming in from the left hand side.Great shot just needs some tweaking