Barn Dog

[manateemedia]

My first post might as well be a critque... shot with a Canon Rebel XTi... which I am LOVING!

[jiminyClickit]

manateemedia, Welcome

Winter light: at first I think I'd lighten the door that might be getting some snow whiteness reflected light. But as dark as it is, it makes you look a little harder to see how it's made. So, maybe just a little lightening of the door, just enough of the dog's face to see shapes, and then sit back and enjoy this. Personal taste aside, it's good as is.

[clockdoc]

I agree with Jiminy as it is a nice shot as presented. Experiment with a little flash fill in cases like this. All the better if you can also control the output of your flash. Metering for proper snow exposure will always result in underexposure of the interior walls. Good eye for composition and a pleasing shot.

[manateemedia]

Thanks for the feedback... I have much to learn still as I'm just an average photographer with basic knowledge... but, I'm sure these forums and the blog will help out a bit over time.

Here's version 2 with a little bit of editing

[jiminyClickit]

manateemedia,

Just enough, nice edit. Now I'd hang it, sit back and enjoy it.

(My curse is wondering "what if . . . ." and I'm thinking I might have to try using the outside snow scene of first post and editted inside warmness of second post. Just to keep the lesser contrast in the snow and sky. Not suggesting you try that, just something I would do.)

[clockdoc]

Nice work on the editing. Much improved over the first one.

[KristinLaura]

When I looked at the first version, I thought I wanted the door to be lighter. The second version looks great, but the focus has changed from the snowy scene outside to the door. I think both versions look great; it's just a matter of what you want the focus of the picture to be.

[Mr. Clipit]

Hey manateemedia, I really liked this shot. I just wanted to throw in a medium between post 1 and 2, that is, I brightened the inside and canine friend with the shadows & highlights tool in CS3, but masked off the outside, so that the contrast and brightness remained the same. Its attached - if you have any problems with it just let me know and ill take it down.

[manateemedia]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clipit

Hey manateemedia, I really liked this shot. I just wanted to throw in a medium between post 1 and 2, that is, I brightened the inside and canine friend with the shadows & highlights tool in CS3, but masked off the outside, so that the contrast and brightness remained the same. Its attached - if you have any problems with it just let me know and ill take it down.

Flattered that you did some work on this photo...and it definitely works well. I'm going to have to do some research and learn this masking technique. Did you just mask the snowy area?

[Mr. Clipit]

I masked so that only the dark wood was affected, ie, the sky, snow, and pup were not affected. so basically, everything bright was masked off.