Cropping??

[Bentwing]

I would appreciate any pointers you could give to make this a better photo. I am new to this so all suggestions would be welcomed. I was thinking cropping would help

[Jamesc359]

I'd try cropping out some of the area behind him. In theory that should give the photo more of a direction.

[aadam_21]

Maybe just crop the left side - behind the dog. It's a good idea to leave the open space on the right so there is space to follow his gaze. Not sure the best way to do it, but it would look nice if you could lessen the shadow on his back as well.

Nice shot of a beautiful dog!

[phlyersphan]

I was thinking along the same lines as aadam_21 - crop off some of the left side so that the dog has some room to gaze into, and lessen that shadow a bit on his back.

I love the dog's stance and facial expression! Nice catch

[peeperita]

that's a very handsome dog you have there....

you did a lovely job on the exposure.....and i agree with most that i'd like to see some cropping off the left... if you have a larger original.....as it is, cropping could be tricky because you don't have a lot of room to work around your subject......if there's not a larger frame to work with i would leave it as it is.....

if you're open to it, try playing with the colors a bit.....either through levels or selective color......i know it's late summer and the landscape tends to be a bit burnt out anyway, but it would be nice to see more depth in the greens of the grass and the yellows in his coat, flowers and hardscape....

it's a good solid shot, though, and you should be proud of yourself...

peeper

[odark30]

What a beautiful dog! Would you mind if I print this and hang it in my friends Grooming Salon??? She has pic of my two, but how many little white dog pictures does she need??? LOL Her Salon is in a basement and she desperately needs a view! (I have a large format printer)

[kirbinster]

I would crop out the left as well, but I like the shadow.

[Bentwing]

Odark30. Please feel free to use the photo. If you can improve it let me have a look when you are done. By the way she is a Belgian Shepard and very proud of herself. LOL

[Bentwing]

Thanks for the great advice and encouragement. I will try to crop the left and see if I can get the colours to come out more. It has been a very dry summer which made all the scenery rather dreary. When I get better at taking photos, I will take on these new challenges. LOL. This is my first digital slr.

[thekevinmonster]

one thing I noticed, while looking at the original size image, is that the focus isn't on the dog's face. It's on somewhere slightly behind, which puts the fur on his/her back in focus but leaves the face - including the eyes - out of focus. I think in general, people are drawn to faces (at least everyone else says so ) so having the face properly in focus helps a viewer respond better.

Also, the color balance is a bit pinky. While this helps the dog - since it's brown - the background might be better if it was greener.

I also agree that cropping off some of the left side of the image would give the dog more to look into.