Dog Portrait

[Jennyx]

Hi I`m new with photography and loving it!
Please C&C! Let me know what you think.
What do yo think of the focus and the light used in the photo? Any suggestions on how I could have gotten better results?
Thank u

Canon EOS REBEL T3
f/8
1/200
55mm
no flash

[karen_s]

The source of light seems good, but the photo over all looks a bit dark. In post (post processing), you want to try to get a good range from a white white to black black. There are of course exceptions to that but for a shot like this, I think it would work well.

Focus looks pretty good, it's on the eyes. You also have an interesting catch light in the eyes so that's good too.

One thing that can help improve your pet photography is to get your camera down to your pets eye level. I often get on my knees or belly to get that view. Not every shot has to be that way, but getting on the subjects eye level can bring a more intimate feel and a more interesting (less typical) perspective to your shots.

Since you are new I am going to take a leap and guess you are shooting in the auto or program mode? If you are, look into something called "exposure compensation." White dogs (and black) can fool your cameras light meter and compensating is sometimes necessary to get a proper exposure.

I'd say a good start though considering your so new to photography.

[Jennyx]

Thanks you the comment. Very helpful suggestions. The picture was actually taken in full manual mode. Also, there was no post-processing.

[crockny]

What a cutie! Focus and exposure look good to me, although maybe you could brighten it up a little in PP. I'm not fond of the floor as a background. Also it looks like there's a window being reflected in the eyes? You might want to clone that out in PP. Good job overall, it's hard to get good detail in a white animal ...

[pippyh]

I'm no expert but besides what the others have said, I think it would benefit from cropping. Very cute dog.

[cyber3d]

JennyX here is a quick edit based on my personal preferences. I changed the curves to cover the gamut. Whites of the hair bumped up without blowing them out and the blacks of the eyes brought down to a truer black. I changed the tone and blur of the background and cropped of course to make the eyes more the point of focus of the pic.

I suggest you try to auto bracket while you learn how to zero in on perfect exposure.

BTW, the reflections in the eyes are a plus. They're called catchlights and really add pop to an image.





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[luckdog716]

Look at this dog.
You wanna give him a hug from his eyes.

[Jennyx]

Originally Posted by crockny

What a cutie! Focus and exposure look good to me, although maybe you could brighten it up a little in PP. I'm not fond of the floor as a background. Also it looks like there's a window being reflected in the eyes? You might want to clone that out in PP. Good job overall, it's hard to get good detail in a white animal ...

Thank yo for commenting. I can see what you mean about the floor background (not very appealing). Yes, the reflection in the eyes is from a window but I quite liked it so I didn't want to clone it out.

[Jennyx]

Originally Posted by cyber3d

JennyX here is a quick edit based on my personal preferences. I changed the curves to cover the gamut. Whites of the hair bumped up without blowing them out and the blacks of the eyes brought down to a truer black. I changed the tone and blur of the background and cropped of course to make the eyes more the point of focus of the pic.

I suggest you try to auto bracket while you learn how to zero in on perfect exposure.

BTW, the reflections in the eyes are a plus. They're called catchlights and really add pop to an image.


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The picture looks great. a lot better that before. Thank you for the great suggestions.