Murphy Christmas!

[cmacc1]

Questions on the photo of Murphy, distant cousin to BO, the Presidential Portuguese
1) Does my daughter's foot bother you or add to the festive atmosphere?
2) Does the catch light in Murphy's eyes make him look ominous?
3) Do the presents in the background detract or add to the photo?
4) Since Murph is black he's hard to photograph, is the image too dark, too light of him?

EXIF
Nikon D40
1/80
f/4.2
ISO 200
66mm
White Balance for flash
Nikon 600 flash bounced off ceiling

[tingeliM]

I think the exposure and the presents are ok. I didn't really notice the eys on a first glance. I think they're ok too.
The foot is very random. I would try to get rid of it somehow. Maybe crop a bit more so you don't really see it's a foot? Also the other one (a foot, a hand??) in the lower left corner caught my eye. I would crop that away too.

Otherwise a cute picture

[cmacc1]

I never saw the hand on the left. Easy enuff to make go away. Appreciate the input, Happy New Year!

[FocalFrenzy]

I agree with the crop suggestions. Photographing black animals is extremely difficult. I also use GIMP, and have found that using the "Dodge/Burn" tool, set to dodge midtones, will sometimes bring out more detail. If you try this, I would suggest using a duplicate layer, so that you can experiment without ruining your original. This is a marvelous shot as is.