Sit, Stay, Good boy.

[sheenz]

Hi there! Got myself a boxing day present in the form of an XSi and have been mostly trying to learn by reading ... gotta get out there more and practice.

I'd love some feedback on these (be as brutal as you like). It was SO hard to get him to stay still.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3385/3261812486_9210bef8ac_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3485/3261804314_8535cac14e_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3496/3261830080_e27a2f7ebd_b.jpg

[howaboutnow]

What a cute lab!

Pic 1 - looks a lil sad there but very nice lighting.

Pic 2 - nose looks OOF, but ever cute expression with the slightly raised ears, plus the BG looks neat, and he/she is not centered here.

Pic 3 - my fav of the bunch, the colorful toy really makes this picture pop, and you have his/her eyes in focus with a great expression that says "please play with me" I would of liked to see a bit more of the top of his/her head though.

Thanks for sharing and congrats on the new purchase!

[kevingr]

I second that the 1st one is a little sad and the the nose is OOF in pic #2. 3rd pic is really the best of the three, but I would like #2 the best if his nose had been in focus too. I really like the separation of subject and ground, the highlights in the background and I am often in favor of pics where the subject is not dead center. Well done, and within throwing distance of excellent.

[sheenz]

Thanks. I agree with #2 being out of focus on his nose. I wasn't sure if the aperture was open too much as it was hard to keep him in focus.

I was shooting in Av mode but had the lens on auto focus because it was just impossible to focus otherwise. How do the 'pros' do it in terms of the setting of the lens...do they manually use the focus ring all the time? It just seems impossible!

[tonydee]

Light around the eyes creates a more compelling image, satisfying the viewers' desire for enough detail to judge more about mood, and feel connected to the shot. All these suffer from insufficient lighting for the eyes - even though the lighting works ok for brighter parts of the fur. Last one's noticeably better, but not quite there. In the first two, can clearly see that the dog's facing away from the sun. Still, you captured a nice colourful background bokeh. Some gentle diffused flash fill or a reflector are necessary to get an outstanding shot from that side. Cheers, Tony

[ScottKCooper]

if 2 was not OOF it would be my favorite as the ears and overall expression is the best. It looks like about a 5 degree ccw rotation would help too.

[sheenz]

In the first two, can clearly see that the dog's facing away from the sun. Still, you captured a nice colourful background bokeh. Some gentle diffused flash fill or a reflector are necessary to get an outstanding shot from that side. Cheers, Tony

Would adding flash not overexpose the other parts of him?

It looks like about a 5 degree ccw rotation would help too

what's ccw? (apologies for the newbie questions)

[tonydee]

Strong flash would overexpose his fur, yes... that's why I suggested "gentle diffused" flash (as well as to avoid annoying the poor dog). It can be difficult to get the right amount... could practice with manual power settings if you've a dedicated flash unit. With built in flashes, I think there's a flash exposure adjustment button. Not sure what model camera you're using as there's no EXIF data.

Re ccw... it's counter-clockwise, always from the perspective of the viewer. I.e. bottom right corner is lifted about the centre.

Cheers, Tony