Critique please!

[conesweeper]

I just got my XTi a couple weeks ago and I'm trying to learn how to take better pictures. Here are some pictures of my dog with his new haircut :). Comments are appreciated!

[Chris71]

Not bad, colors look great and the photos look crisp. Your dog doesn't look too happy about it's new hair cut though. :D

[Mike Bell]

Colours, focus and exposure all excellent. :)

For really perfect portraits you need to pay a little more attention to your backgrounds - these are a little busy with some distracting elements.

[D. Craig Flory]

For the purpose intended , I think these work well. However, lack of focus is a problem.

[JimHejl]

awwww... I like the first one. There is something human-like about the expression. It looks like your auto-focus hit the nose, when you really want the detail on the eyes.

As mentioned, I'd pay a bit more attention to things that distract the eye (all those tags, the background)

[conesweeper]

Not bad, colors look great and the photos look crisp. Your dog doesn't look too happy about it's new hair cut though. :D

He sure doesn't look happy:lol:, but he certainly feels better based on the amount of energy he has now! Heres a pic of him with hair.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/ConeSweeper/Family/Chip/sideways.jpg


Colours, focus and exposure all excellent. :)

For really perfect portraits you need to pay a little more attention to your backgrounds - these are a little busy with some distracting elements.

Thanks for the advice! I really wasn't looking around for distracting objects and I didn't notice how distracting they were till I had them on my computer (like the dog tags and furniture in the background). Next time I'll be sure to visually scan the surroundings.

and about lack of focus, i've noticed that on my 18-55. I've tried to manually focus but the focus dial is so difficult to manipulate and by the time I have him focused he's long gone lol. I sure hope other lenses are better with manual focus or focus in general!

[VFTT]

Yah, a cleaner background will help. Look out for those posts "growing out of your dog's head". Nice shots though considering you just got your camera a week ago.

- d

[inthedeck]

Also, try to change the focus point to the 'center' point, rather than attempting to achieve focus all around. This will help you focus more quickly, before the pup is long gone. Using the center also provides you with the option to lock focus, recompose, and then shoot (after having moved away from the negative background).

Nice pup, though...as sad as he feels about his haircut.

[Rhinotherunt]

I likle the second one, but looks like you have some back focus issues on it.

[ijohnson]

Nice job. You seem to have a good eye.

I don't like the background but I could see how someone would.