Constructive Criticism, please & TY!

January 5th, 2014


Any and all comments are welcome :-)
January 5th, 2014
One suggestion is to use a smaller aperture (bigger number). f2.8 does not give enough DOF for portraits. Use f5.6-f8 to get enough DOF. The eye is clear, that is good, but the shallow DOF makes the rest of the face blurry.
January 5th, 2014
I would disagree with John 2.8 would be great for this shot. The main problem is some blur from camera shake. You shot this at 1/20 sec which is a hard shutter speed to shot hand held if you don't have great technique. I would suggest bumping up your ISO from 200 to 400 or 800 to get a faster shutter speed.
January 5th, 2014
I actually agree with both John and Jake. I can tell you're pretty close to the subject because you're using a 50mm, I'd say about 3 or 4 feet away. I can tell this because of how blurry your background is. So at that distance, your dof is only a couple of inches, maybe 4 at the maximum. A smaller aperture as John recommended would be a good call because you would enlarge your depth-of-field... but that would mean your shutter speed would be even slower; which is the primary issue with this shot as Jake pointed out. His tip to increase the ISO to compensate for the low light (and movement of your camera and subject) is also a good call. I wouldn't recommend hand-holding a shot of a moving target like this with a shutter speed any lower than 1/125 sec. So, if I were to retake this shot, I would probably back away from the subject a little to maximize my dof while keeping my aperture open fairly wide, probably f/4 (the further away you are, the larger your depth-of-field (dof) will be). If you step back to about 8 feet away from your subject, your dof should be close to a foot; easily enough to get his whole head in focus (you can crop down later so he fills the screen). Increase your ISO until you have a good shutter speed; probably around 800 as Jake suggested based on the slightly low light. Play around and experiment and before you know it, this stuff will be second nature... especially with a 50mm lens! @chapjohn @soren
January 5th, 2014
Amy
I'm with @grizzlysghost - well said that man :)
January 5th, 2014
I agree with Aaron said but I wanted to add that it is a cute capture in terms of catching the moment of alertness. I like the head turned to the side leaving us to imagine what has caught his/her attention. Beautiful animal.
January 5th, 2014
@grizzlysghost @breezers Bre, with your camera and lens setup, if you where 8 feet away from your subject at 2.8 your DoF would be almost 10 inches which would be plenty for this shot. The main thing to improve this shot is to get the shutter speed higher. I think that you could get good results with 1/80 sec but 1/125 as Aaron said would be safer. If you want more info on DoF with different camera and lens setups check out this site http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
January 5th, 2014
The more technical side has already been really well covered. In terms of composition (and this is more of a personal preference) I would have given more space to the area where the dog is looking. I did a quick edit to show what I mean (I also did a little sharpening to counter the motion blur):

January 5th, 2014
@rafesmar Agree with Rafa. That was my idea right away. it's a pretty common idea, also with motion. Leave room to expand or move into. Another manifestation of that jargon phrase "negative space" I think. The focus doesn't bother me since you have definitely got it sharp on the eyes; that's the critical part of any portrait. Good shooting in 2014!
January 5th, 2014
Yes I agree with @rafesmar the composition of the image could of been a little better.

When taking photos try and take into consideration rule of thirds, by using rule of thirds your images will have more balance and will therefore look more eye catching. ROT would of also meant that you would have had more space in the direction the dog was looking, making the viewer even more curious of what he or she is looking at. ( http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/06/12/rule-of-thirds-use-it-and-break-it-with-confidence/ < here is a website explaining rule of thirds in a bit more detail)

Good luck for the rest of your photos this year.
January 5th, 2014
@grizzlysghost ty for that response!! For me this is exactly what 365 is all about! It is also what I would love to see for comments on my pictures. Ways you would have done it different. I appreciate all the nice comments but my main goal from posting here is to learn. Ty to everyone on 365, Aaron definitely being one of them.... :)., who motivate and challenge me to be better than I even thought I could be before 365, with their knowledge and creativity!!
January 5th, 2014
@rafesmar Excellent edit, much nicer and great point!
January 5th, 2014
Thank you EVERYONE for your time to critique my photo - it is nice to hear it from a perspective of someone that doesn't see it as just, "awww, cute puppy!"

@rafesmar I really love your edit, I definitely agree it needs more space where she is looking. When I originally edited I had sharpened up her whole face but I personally thought it made her fur look a little to harsh and dirty/greasy, so I left it soft. But I do see your point, composition would have helped my case a little.

@grizzlysghost I shot this with a Tamron 17-50mm so you're right, I was very close to her as I was trying to make her stay away from me -- she kept wanting to follow me every time I moved back to take the picture, ha ha! :-) I appreciate all your feedback and will take it all into consideration for todays shoot...now off to do some major research on shutter speed as that seems to be what I lack knowledge on the most.

@obmcreations though the technicality of the photo isn't great, I agree -- I love her expression...thanks for your kind words.

Everyone else, thanks again for all your suggestions. I am looking at all the links @__hazza and @soren provided and I look forward to a Sunday full of learning!
January 6th, 2014
Cute shot of a super cute dog. I agree with Rafa about having more space on the left. Though I do a lot of pet pictures and I know hard it can be.

Another note about the composition is that I find the line (where the fence meets the ground I think) going through the dogs head distracting to my eye. If you change your angle that can alleviate that. I always see things like that in my shots (or trees in the background that appear to be growing from someone's head...) that drive me crazy. Overall good shot of a cute dog.

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