Portrait in Evening Light

[David Boyles]

I shot this in late evening with a low sun angle. Besides a wide open aperture what else can you suggest for me to try or could I have done to improve this image? P.S. My dog just happen to make a surprise visit.

[Surprised]

To my inexpert eye the dog is a big distraction, I'm afraid! The soft toy is so vivid a yellow that it's a bit of a distraction too. Could both be cropped out somehow? -- although then we might be left wondering what the child is looking at. He looks a real cute kid though!

[sketching]

I like the toy in the corner. You could stand to move in a bit closer to cut out the leaves above him. The image looks dark and gray to me, except for the toy. You could try increasing the exposure by 2/3 or a full stop.