First 'proper' portrait session

[gfinlayson]

This is a shot from my first serious go at portraits - my young sister-in-law wanted me to shoot some shots of her dog and two cats. I'd appreciate some comments on how the final edit came out compared to the original

Photo was shot with a D700, 1/250, f/13. 2 x SB-800s on stands fired into white/silver umbrellas front L&R, SB-900(-3.0EV) diffused and bounced onto background. When exposed correctly, the dog is almost purely black, with no detail. I guess I hit the limits of the D700's dynamic range! I've selectively dodged the dog in Lightroom to make her more visible. I'm still finding my way around LR, so this is all fairly new to me...


Molly- Bubbles and Basil (Molly lightened) (1 of 1) by gfgfinlayson, on Flickr

[windrider86]

the biggest thing that bothers me is how close the crop is to the feet.
You did a great job with having them all look one way. Not an easy task with humans let alone animals!

[autofocus]

Looking on my laptop it looks like you did a good job with your lighting and the edit does look good. The only thing I would like to see different (if possible knowing how difficult it might have been with animals) would be the dog in the middle with a cat on each side. This arrangement would create a more pleasing triangular group composition. Just a thought if you get a second chance at this shot, however, it still is a very cute shot