pic of my dog

[acoleman]

This is my first post on the critique section and I'm a total newb as you guys are already aware, so feel free to give me some advice! Shot using a Nikon d3100 18-55mm kit lens at 48 mm... 1/60s f/5.6 iso-3200... I'm a little concerned about the high iso, but I was in the manual setting and without the high iso it says the image is too dark or is going to show up overexposed. Any advice on that? I am indoors of course, and the lighting isn't great. No editing was done on the image at all. Any advice on how to improve is appreciated!

[karen_s]

I think it's a pretty decent shot considering the challenges of low light photography. You got a nice pose and the subject is easy to find because he's in focus and brighter than the background. (And cute.)

The only thing a little distracting to me is the background but it's not that bad. It's got a decent blur to it which is good but what I can see is crooked. All the verticals slant to the left. It's something I would change if it were mine but some do like the tilt effect though so if you like it, keep it.

And ISO 3200 is pretty high but it really doesn't seem all that noticeable in this shot. Best thing you can do to avoid using the higher ISOs is to find more light. Bouncing an off camera flash is quite helpful or using a large window (gotta be daytime of course) to your advantage are a couple ways around the issue. You can also look into reflectors to bounce light too. (I use a 2"x3" piece of white foam core I got at the hobby store.)

There are quite a few helpful threads on using natural light and flash in these forums so you might do some searching there too. I know I have picked up a lot of useful tips from other members.

[acoleman]

Thanks a lot for the feedback! I'll look into the lighting stuff! And yeah, the background definitely is crooked... I was laying on the floor in an incredibly awkward position trying to get the shot hahaha

[AshNZ]

Here is a composition trick/rule that would have really improved this picture: Give Your Subject Space to Look Into

[acoleman]

Thanks for the advice! I read the article and agree 100% ... I'll remember that for next time! I can already see I'm going to learn so much from this forum!

[praline3001]

Your boxer is adorable!!!!!

I agree with the background, its not strait and detracts from the subject. Can you use a blur filter and go nuts with blurring it out? The burring out will help with the WB issue in the background due to lighting.

Something else you might want to try is to use dodge on his irises a bit. Take the dodge brush and go maybe 5-8% with it and go over the iris. This will help bring out his expression without over doing it.

All and all its a very cute photo!

[acoleman]

Thanks a lot! I'm glad I got some positives on it considering I'm completely new at this lol. I'll try to work around with what you said and see if I can come up with something but I'm also totally new to the editing software too (gimp) and so far it's been pretty difficult for me to figure out lol.

[acoleman]

I just played around with gimp and made the changes you suggested, and it does look a lot better! Thanks a lot!