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Christopher Jamison
{K:1230} 2/27/2006
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Mike, thank you for the thoughtful response. This was taken in my studio, so without flash, there would have been no image at all. As for bracketing...My camera DOES have that option, but I set my exposure ahead of time with my studio strobes for proper exposure. I had a medium sized soft box as the key light and used a barn-door strobe about 10 feet above his head as a highlight.
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Mike D. Ontario
{K:389} 2/25/2006
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Great shot, very dramatic. We too have a dog, boxer actually, and he is the topic of more than a few pictures.
Here are two quick suggestions:
1) what would the picture look like without the flash? I suppose you might not get some of the highlights, but I generally like natural lighting.
2) Do you have a feature called 'auto bracketing' setup? I find it works quite well, and if your shutter speed is fast enough you can then combine the images to bring out a little more detail in the shadows. Sure you could use PS techniques but I find the bracketing+combo gives me the most options.
Great shot.
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Mary Sue Hayward
{K:17558} 2/25/2006
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I am a sucker for dog shots. Maybe it is because I have a dog that good dog photos like this one make me melt.
You did a great job with the highlghts. Black dogs sometimes shoot with impossibly dark shadows and too bright highlights that totally tank the image. The balance of shadows and light works very well here.
I agree with Pat on his point about the composition. Your pooch needs space to the left to look into. I also think that the entire image would be better served with a little more space to the top, which might allow you to crop a little from the bottom. I'm not sure if the bright buckle is distracting or if it adds some weight at the bottom that makes the composition stronger.
Regarding the softness with selective sharpening, I totally like the second suggestion that Pat made.
One last suggestion: I'd love to see this same shot, only with the dog's head turned a little toward the camera so that the viewer can feel a more personal relationship him. Maybe you have one of these in your portfolio...I'll look there.
Sorry for the excessively long post, but I like this image quite a bit.
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Christopher Jamison
{K:1230} 2/24/2006
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Very good points! Just as a point of referrence...here's the color version....
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Michael Kanemoto
{K:22115} 2/24/2006
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I think Pat covered most of the composition, my only addition to the comments is to put a dark Lab against a light background to focus attention on this wonderful dog. In black and white you only get contrast and pop through tonal changes, so a black lab would probably pop out as a form and shape better against a stark white background like foamcore, etc.
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Patrick Ziegler
{K:21797} 2/24/2006
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BTW, Nice looking dog!
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Christopher Jamison
{K:1230} 2/24/2006
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ah, ok...cool! I'll try that out and see what comes of it...again, thanks a ton for the feedback!
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Patrick Ziegler
{K:21797} 2/24/2006
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ANother idea may be to apply the filter selectivly to the eyes, nose & teeth only. Maintain the soft feel yet add a little zing to the shot?
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Patrick Ziegler
{K:21797} 2/24/2006
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>however, the sharpening to me looks a bet over sharp now. Maybe somewhere in the middle might be best.
Could be true, is a matter of taste I supose. At "computer resolutions" sharpening is tough, As I said 1 pixcel is all I added. Where as at the resolution or you original one can make more fine adjustments.
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Christopher Jamison
{K:1230} 2/24/2006
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thank you guys for the taking the time. I really like the crop, Pat, however, the sharpening to me looks a bet over sharp now. Maybe somewhere in the middle might be best. I really appreciate the effort in showing what you meant. Thanks a bunch!
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Dave Stacey
{K:150877} 2/24/2006
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A very nice portrait of your dog, Christopher! I think Pat's suggestions have merit, but I don't think the slight softness really takes away from the shot in this case.
Dave.
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Patrick Ziegler
{K:21797} 2/24/2006
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Good tones. The critique I would make is first apply some sharpening or "unsharpmask" to the image. All digital images need some sharpening. Second, The composition is off. You need to pan your camera to the left a touch. The dogs nose is crowding the frame. When shootin portraits where the subject is looking left or right, you need to give room in the frame for the eyes to look into.
In the attached image I have sharpend the entire frame (at this resolution 1 pixel at a level of 120 is all that was needed) And the I did another 1 pixel unsharp mask to just the eyes and teeth to get them to stand out a bit. Also I cropped the image to show the composition I mentioned.
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