New to this, but i'm open to hints, tips and critisises

[Becca!]

Hi,
I'm new to showing people my photos, but hopefully they'll help me get in to college!
I've attatched 2 photographs of my dog, Phoebe..
Let me know what you think

[BigFuzzy]

Hi Becca,

I'll preface this by saying I have no clue what they use as entrance criteria to get into the A-level you want, so I'm just approaching this from the position of general commentary on how to make your images stand out.

On the one hand, there's nothing wrong with these images.
On the other hand, there's nothing terribly exciting either.

The one thing I always tell people who're starting is out is to always think about what you can do to make your images stand out from the 2 gazillion people out there taking snaps (and half of them are of babies or pets!)

I say this because (and sorry if I sound mean) there's simply nothing that stands out to me from these images. They could be anyone else's snap shots of their pets. You want your images to say to the viewer (ie person looking at your entrance application) "I'm not like every other person with a camera".
Just spend a bit of time doing a search on Flickr on the word "dog" and you'll see both a million images similar to yours and other dog shots that really stand out without the need for fancy kit or tons of experience.

Simple things like changing the perspective and/or angle makes a heap of changes for the better. Your first one (of the eye) shows a bit of thought, but I can't tell you how many close ups of a dog's (or cat's) eye I've seen and I don't even like looking for pet shots! Think of details (ears, nails, tail, etc) or go extreme (as in close-ups or angles).. just make them different. Make them about thinking of photography beyond "aaaw cute".

Show you put some thought into your shots because, to me at least, the only thing your images say are that you like your dog, and when you thought it looked cute, you took a snap shot.

You want your portfolio to say that you're thinking of how to make your images the best possible, and right now, from only these two examples, I don't see that and if there's a very critical review of applications, they won't see it either I'm afraid.

[Biomech]

I hope you don't mind, you might not like it, I'm not exactly a fan, but it was just a quick fiddle. First thing I do when things don't do it for me, is make them black and white :P

[Dare]

I like the sharpness of the picture, but what bothers me most is the reflection within the eye; its very distracting to me. It takes away the depth of the dogs eyes. Thats just my opinion though...

[Biomech]

I disagree, adding light to the eyes (known as catch-lights) make soooo many photo's better, it gives them life and makes them look less dead.

[JFSanders]

Well, you got his eye nice and sharp. But seeing the photographer in the reflection doesn't work. Unless you can get close enough to just get the eye as in macro and have your reflection in there. Pretty dog but doesn't work for me as a portrait. Not enough dog in the photograph. Nice pooch you got there.

Jim

[karen_s]

Originally Posted by Biomech

I disagree, adding light to the eyes (known as catch-lights) make soooo many photo's better, it gives them life and makes them look less dead.

A big +1 on having catchlights. I reserve the lack of catch lights in the eye for Zombie photos.

Oh, yeah, I like the BW version a bit better.