Chocolate Lab

[Cold]

A few days ago, I took some photos of my lab, Taka. The lighting was wonderful, and I had a hard time trimming down the 150+ shots I took to a handful of winners. This is one of my favorites, with Taka bringing a stick and a toy to play with. I can't ask for any more from the lighting or the subject, but I'm wondering if there wasn't something more that to guy behind the camera could have done. Perhaps a tighter crop? Maybe I should have gotten down lower (I was already crouching)? Maybe I should have zoomed in more? I have a few other shots that are might tighter and closer, and others that I feel are more technically sound, but this one is the one that I feel has more unrealized potential than the others.

From Taka 2011-01-02

Model: NIKON D80
Lens: Nikkor 70-300 VR
ISO: 800
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: 8.0
Focal Length: 135mm
Flash Used: No

[BuddhaPi]

I'm no pro, but the exposure or something looks off to me, maybe just a slight levels/ curves adjustment...curious to see what others have to say.. Anyway good looking hound...gotta love those labs!

[Sterling]

The light may have been great but unfortunately you didn't use it to light the dog. It's too bad you didn't shoot from farther to the left so you could've captured that great light on your subject. Nice dog though.

[edbayani]

you can try using photoshop, image, adjustments,shadows/highlights to recover some detail of the dark side of the dog.

[jml79]

Yes, A shot from the left side would have helped. You (or your camera) have exposed the shot for the background and not the animal. I have found that my camera's metering system has a very hard time exposing dark animals like my lab or my horse. I have to use spot metering and accept an overexposed background or very carefully light the animal or dial in some +EV comp.

Have fun with your pets. They are the most willing models and never get as annoyed as my wife does when I want to try a new technique.

[Cold]

Thanks everyone! I suspected as much, considering other shots turned out better. I think maybe subconsciously I figured this out and adjusted, moving myself to get better light on the pup. For example, technically, I feel this is a much better shot:

From Taka 2011-01-02

Model: NIKON D80
ISO: 800
Exposure: 1/320 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Focal Length: 102mm

[jml79]

That is a nice photo.