Chocolate Lab - Luna

[ajnestler]

This is my first post so it will probably need a lot of criticism. I tried removing the "green eye" but it was too fake so I left it as is. I also tried my hand at photoshop to remove that annoying flash reflection but I don't like how it turned out.



Sony a390, 18-55mm lens
RAW
26mm
Shutter Speed: 1/8
F: 4.5
iso:400

Please give me honest criticism I'm brand new to the sight and my dSLR so any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Kyle]

I would try Using completely natural light from the left or right, not behind the camera. The direct flash creates ugly shadows and glares. also if you framed it using the rule of thirds, (instead of right in the middle) the overall composition would have a better feel.

[Morzine]

Hi,

To me I don't really see the subject, is it the dog or the toy?

I also thik the picture is cluttered with the background, perhaps a reduced DOF would bring the dog out more. Ask yourself what you are trying to photograph and then check what exactly is in the viewfinder.

Just my thoughts, but i'm no pro.

Regards

Andrew,

P.S. Nice dog though.

[karen_s]

Aw, cute lab. My boys love the stuffed toys too.

As for lighting, I'd also suggest trying natural light. North facing windows with a white sheet work very well. Of course, this won't help you much at night.

If you still need a flash though and don't have one that you can bounce or get off your camera, you could try putting a diffuser on the built in one. It's not the best answer but might help ease some of that harsh light ...

1. One you can buy:
B&H Photo Video Digital Cameras, Photography, Camcorders

2. One you can make:
http://content.photojojo.com/diy/diy...lash-diffuser/

If you do have a flash you can use off camera, take it off and learn to bounce the light.

And I'll just add that despite the green eyes, I think you did a nice job of capturing Luna's personality. The background is a bit cluttered so you can watch for that next time.

[sgeary]

I disagree with some of the comments here...I think that if you crop the picture and just get the labbie and the toy I think it would be a great shot. I think the eyes are ok but if you cropped it the flash spot would go away!

[ajnestler]

Thanks so much for the input everyone! I feel welcomed in the community already.
And I see what you guys mean with natural light the flash was the only choice I had in this spur of the moment shot. Also are there any suggestions on how I could "unclutter" the image (besides the obvious moving the chair lol).

[Kyle]

Sometimes spur of the moment shots turn out great, but not always. Ways you could unclutter the background is to blur it out using a wider aperture (like Karen said) just go to a different location, or get closer to the dog so it's taking up most of the frame. If you camera's aperture won't let you adjust the aperture you could try stepping back and zooming in. This will cause the background to be closer to the subject. This might be a negative effect in some situations but Focal lengths between 50 and 100 are great for portraits

[karen_s]

This may sound odd but I think the clutter lay more in the bright spots of the window and the reflection of the flash on the right. Our eyes tend to go to the brightest part of an image so these two spots kinda become detractors from your intended subject, thus becoming a sort of visual clutter. Does that make sense? Cropping them out as sgeary might help a great deal.

The wider aperture could also help but if you have the kit lens, 4.5 may be about as open as you can go. You could do as Kyle says and step back and zoom a bit, this should give you a bit more blur to the background.

And just for kicks, here is a blog I follow. Most of the photographs are taken outside but this post was indoors and I think might help illustrate the whole DOF thing ...

scruffy dog photography | best professional pet photographer blog serving Toronto and Ontario he fast

Granted this photographer probably has some fast lenses (wide aperture's like 1.2, 1.8, ...) and that helps, but they really know how to set the subject from the background.

Pat Luna on the head for me