Critique this Shot

January 24th, 2014
Ok, nobody seemed to like this shot so I would like to hear some constructive criticism on it. Be nice please but honest. I liked the contrast of the colors in the background with the rabbit's white fir. Maybe not a spectacular shot but I didn't think it was terrible either. Thoughts?

January 25th, 2014
Tonya, it's definitely NOT a terrible shot! Your lighting is excellent. Even the brilliant white of his fur is properly exposed. The colors are vivid. His pose is adorable. The background is simple and not distracting. So all of that works very well.

There are three things I'd look to improve. First is the focus. Now, it may be because he's so fluffy, but his fur seems to be slightly out of focus. The afghan looks sharp, and his eye looks sharp, but for some reason I see his fur and whiskers as slightly off. (May be my aging eyes, too. LOL) The second item is the extremely tight crop. I'd leave just a tad bit more space both below his paws and above his ear. Not much, just a bit. As it is, it feels like he's cut off, but we know that's not true since we can see the blue and melon surrounding him. The third thing is a bit of a quirk on my part. The line between the afghan and the curtain takes on the appearance of a horizon line. I'd therefore straighten the edge a bit. (I don't mean make the afghan straight - the folds are perfect - but rather, don't make it appear like it's downhill from left to right.)

That's pretty much it. I think there's far more right with this photo than there are the minor items I'd adjust if you had the opportunity retake the photo.
January 25th, 2014
Thank you so much for the critique @Ron! I truly appreciate it.
January 25th, 2014
Critique left on your album.
January 25th, 2014
A lion head right??? I agree with @kannafoot. I know photographing a rabbit is not easy. Id really just work on the background. Maybe try different types of lighting can be fun too. Most of all have fun=D
January 25th, 2014
Ron has mentioned a few things. I agree with them, but I find I agree with April that the most pressing problem is the extremely distracting background. I know you mentioned you liked it, but that is, actually, the issue I think. It is far too distracting with the strong primary colors. Color, especially when it is not on the subject (here he is basically white) can be extremely distracting and the viewer's eyes can easily wander. It's one of the attractions of shooting monochrome (Black and White) still even with the easy digital color.

Here's a quick redo in three areas in Adobe Camera Raw (basically Lightroom) - de-saturate the background colors (not a B/W full conversion needed so there is a little bit of tone still), hike up the resulting highlights (the whites of the animal, and a dose of what is called "clarity" (basically mid tone contrast) to "sharpen up" the fur as mentioned as an issue by Ron, without actually resorting to edge or detail sharpening. The fur around the eyes seems to have blown out the highlights, so not a lot to be able to recover from the jpeg there though. This last actually points out the problem is not so much one of inaccurate focus, but the lack of mid tone contrast in the original, a big generic issue with shooting large patches of white. I couldn't do anything about extending the crop or the "bunny lean" of course.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k8h684k3s8jwjic/4745695_fjmsuvw037_l%20as%20Smart%20Object-1.jpg

Hope that helps you think through what others might have been having some issues with, and how simple it can be to correct most of them.

Good shooting!
January 25th, 2014
Cute little fellow. For me the composition feels a bit lopsided, probably because he is leaning to the right with his head pointed that direction. It is great how you got him looking right at you. You could do a more severe crop, placing his eye in the center of the picture. This removes the lean to the right and makes a nice facial portrait. This also brings the viewer's attention right to the his eye making it a more intimate and personal image.
January 25th, 2014
The first thing I see is the blue, I find that to hard against the white, I would crop much closer. Importantly his eye is in focus.
January 25th, 2014
I will second Ron for the crop and focus and Frank for the distracting background. In my opinion the biggest problem is that the photo doesn't say anything - it is not a terrible photo but it is more of a click.
I would try 4 things:
1. choose a different POV - probably from below or from its eye level
2. definitely focus on the eye/eyes
3. take a picture of one part of it only - tails, paw, nose (all are cliches but composed and shot well are nice)
4. leave more negative space and use clean background
January 28th, 2014
Thanks everyone for your input. I truly appreciate it.
February 4th, 2014
In my opinion the following would improve your image:
1, Adjust the white balance so that the fur is white rather than blue.
2. The head needs to be more on the left, to give the rabbit space on the right.
3. Reduce the highlights, as on my screen you are loosing detail in the white fur on the left.
4. Use just one colour as a background. Currently the blue the rabbit is sitting on cuts its head.

I do like the expression on the face and the direction of the eye, you have done well to get a catchlight in the eye as that brings life into the picture.

Hope this helps, best wishes Bob.
February 19th, 2014
HyTonya, if you like it, you like it, it´s important !! I think the background is too heavy and fights with the prime color ( white ), distracts the attention from the rabbit. It needs a bit of rule of thirds, the crop is too tight, it needs more space up, down and right, let it breathe !!! The focus on the eye is nice .
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