Advice on pic, please.

[teeny]

Hi, I took a couple of pics of my dog, Taylor. I am thinking about putting one in a local contest. The picture's look really good on the back of my 40D, but not as good on screen. Can anyone give me some advice as to how to make these stand out? I have CS3, but I am not as savvy as alot of you are.

Thanks,

Teeny:)

[Bobster]

imho, these aren't really anything special, seeing as you're looking to enter a competition, i'd reshoot until you had a killer pic..

only thing i use the LCD on the back of the camera for is to check the histogram, composition and make sure the subject isn't blinking, i dont trust it for anything else

[Nursedad]

Played with your original a bit. The enhanced contrast and colors make this image a bit more appealing.

Cute dog...

http://www.thoughtsonhim.com/forumPics/dogUpdate.jpg

Best regards...

[jolyn928]

I really like your edit Jeff!

[teeny]

Thanks Jeff. I like it. Did you use photoshop? By the way, its just a little local contest. I know they are not take your breath away photo's. I am still learning. Hope to get there one day with alot of practice and some help from people like the one's on this site that is nice enought to respond.

Thanks,

Teeny:)

[Nursedad]

I'm sorry...you asked for technique too...not just an edit.

For this image, I...

- Duplicated the layer and set the blend mode to multiply
- Reduced the opacity of the multiply later to 70%
- Added a curves adjustment layer to control the contrast a bit more
- Combined all the adjustments into a new layer (shift-cmd-opt-e)
- Added a bi-color filter (Nik Color Effects Pro 3) and adjusted to taste

Given additional time...I would probably enhance the eyes a bit more and maybe clone out the spots on the tongue and apply a little unsharp mask.

Whew...sounds like a lot...but only took me about 3-4 minutes to get it to its current state.

Let me know if you have any additional questions.

[teeny]

Thanks Jeff, I will give that a try. Hope mine turns out as well as yours.

Teeny:)

[Nursedad]

I really like your edit Jeff!

Many thanks. By the way...checked out your website. Incredible work!!

The site really gives the impression that you like what you do for a living.

[FlexiPack]

A couple of nice pics of your dog! I agree about cloning out the spots on his tongue.

I did a quick edit for the other photo in CS3

I duplicated the original applied a 9px gaussian blur, changed the layers blending mode to soft light.

clicked the 'FX' button at the bottom and choose 'blending options'. Tweaked the blend if sliders on 'this layer' to bring back some of the shadows and highlights.

duplicate that layer and tweaked the blend if sliders further.

Dodged his eye, applied a vignette and cropped it (though not sure about my crop i have to say!)



Good luck with the contest!

[teeny]

Thanks Flex. Yours has alot more pop to it, which I like.

Jeff, I do not have Nik filters. (yet)!
Jolyn, I also love your pictures on your site! Where did you get the Pink Headband with the flower for the baby? Its adorable.

Teeny

[teeny]

Here is another picture of him, trying to get under the gate to reach a treat!

Teeny:)