Ben

[Paddy]

Taken to 'try out' my Nikon 55~200 kit lens.

[igor.yermak]

Love how soft the dog looks. You should have put a wider aperture though to increase the bokeh as the backround is still sort of annoying.

[baseballboy828]

Originally Posted by igor.yermak

Love how soft the dog looks. You should have put a wider aperture though to increase the bokeh as the backround is still sort of annoying.

I couldn't disagree more. The dog's face is pretty soft in areas that are not on the same focal plane as the eyes. Opening up will just make the face even softer. True, the background isn't the best. The lens is 4-5.6 anyway, so it's probably wide open anyway. I'd try a shot like this with a more interesting background.

[Paddy]

Thanks for your comments so far. I quite liked the mottled effect of the background so it is good to hear from people who don't. After all, we are not in this photography lark just to please ourselves so your comments are very valuable. The lens was wide open at the time as can be seen from the very narrow DoF on the eyes.

[kelly]

Personally, I like this photo. I love the eyes! How old is he?

[annie]

I like the mottled background too. It's uniformly mottled so I don't find it distracting, and it lets you know that the dog is outdoors. While the narrow DOF means his nose isn't sharp, the focus is exactly where it should be on his eyes. And his expression is great. A winner.

[phlyersphan]

The background doesn't distract me. Great facial expression - looks like a very wise pup! Thanks for sharing

[clockdoc]

Hi Paddy. Excellent shot! I like the background very much. Do you have the EXIF data on this (ISO, shutter speed, aperture, focal length used with your kit lens) . We lived near Peterborough many years ago in Hilton and later in Great Stukeley. I look forward to seeing more of your work.

[Paddy]

Many thanks for all your comments, much appreciated.

Kelly, Ben is 4 years old and a real character, he is one of those dogs who can make you laugh just by looking at you. Trouble is, he thinks he is still a pup and having 7 stone of big lab trying to get on your knee is no joke. Love him to bits.

Clockdoc, I have lived in Peterborough about 6 years now, I am from North Derbyshire/South Yorkshire so I miss the hills of the Peak District, it is so flat around here

Exif data, or some of it as follows
Make - NIKON CORPORATION
Model - NIKON D40
ExposureTime - 1/100 seconds
FNumber - 5.00
ExposureProgram - Normal program
ISOSpeedRatings - 200
MaxApertureValue - F 4.76
MeteringMode - Spot
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Not fired
FocalLength - 120.00 mm
ExposureMode - Auto
WhiteBalance - Auto