Next doors cat.

[divertitch]

Next doors cat sat on the fence post saying hello to our new puppy. Well not a friendly hello but his face says it all. Taken very quickly sun low to the right and used flash to fill the left side. A shot like this done on the fly is more about the cat not the background and the red coller is it a distraction. Your critique on that and anything else is requested.

Camera

Nikon D3100
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 48 mm
Focal Length49.0 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Auto, Fired, Return detected

[zona5101]

it looks very nice, First thing I'd do is crop it a bit, take some off the top and bottom and see if you can move him in the frame to the right so hes no so centered plus that opens up the space he is looking into.

[divertitch]

I take your point I have gone back and done that and it does look better the org picture had a lot of background and I croped it as a sort of majestic beast with an evil eye, a "I am the boss" statement. But it does look better with rule of 1/3ds cropping. Thanks for your comment.

[karen_s]

I'm ok with the centered subject but would crop a little tighter to make that work. The reason is that I am drawn to the eyes and they fall on the upper third so it still has a somewhat dynamic feel to it. I think zona5101s suggestion would work nicely though. Always good to have options.

As to the red collar, I like it. It ads a nice accent of color. About the only thing that's odd in the shot is the slanted background. Was the post maybe standing crooked and you straightened it? (I'da done the same.) Not sure you could fix it easily and not sure it matters, I'm just curious.

[divertitch]

Yes the eye direction is a valid and important point. The coller stays and the background is the side of a hill. Is it allowed to correct and reprsent? Anyway thanks for the comments living on a farm on a hill hard to find anyone to comment on anything!!

[karen_s]

I think it was the trees that got me. Even on hills they tend to grow straight up (around where I live anyway) so something just looked amiss. As long as you are not shooting for a news outlet or for photojournalistic purposes, then I venture to say manipulation of an image is ok. You just have to watch the details if you want to keep it looking real.

The shot is still quite nice.

[zona5101]

i was thinking something like this...


although now that its been pointed out, i do like the skewed horizon in the original...

[STB]

Wow, I was trying to figure out how to say what I was thinking and then Zona went and posted a picture of what I saw in my head!

I think with a little cropping you've got a great shot.

[divertitch]

Yes thats a lot better with space to the left!! I have uploaded all the shots so you can see the background was a messy bit of ground and the light was not the best. Thanks to all.