Playing with lighting

I was playing with my 50mm the other day after having it set for a while untouched. Benson has always been a very willing model, so I decided to play with some natural light and see what I could do. The glare on the table behind him is really blown out, but overall I like the shot.

Shots like this are kinda new to me, so im not even sure how to edit them in post processing. I played with the levels some but maybe not enough. If anyone has suggestions for the future, I would greatly appreciate it.

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Very comfortable, nice dog! You are having fun with the close-up and shallow DOF, keep at it. The lighting is OK by me, as the shadows are not too deep. The nose is so prominent, though, I'd prefer it as sharp as the eyes. Could stop down a bit to get more DOF, and/or focus not on the eyes as the rule says but somewhere between the eyes and the nose. Also, the background is not interesting so could crop off more of the sides. Easy enough to use a brush to darken the glare on the table. While at it, could vignette all around, to keep attention on the subject.

Meanderthal wrote in post #13561048
Very comfortable, nice dog! You are having fun with the close-up and shallow DOF, keep at it. The lighting is OK by me, as the shadows are not too deep. The nose is so prominent, though, I'd prefer it as sharp as the eyes. Could stop down a bit to get more DOF, and/or focus not on the eyes as the rule says but somewhere between the eyes and the nose. Also, the background is not interesting so could crop off more of the sides. Easy enough to use a brush to darken the glare on the table. While at it, could vignette all around, to keep attention on the subject.

Thank you for the comments and suggestions. It was kinda one of those "oh look, he's posing for me" moments. haha. After the image he moved. I tried a few with less distracting backgrounds but dogs are so hard to work with.

My camera doesnt handle high ISO very well, so noise is a pretty big problem. I wish I had tried for more DOF, and next time I will.

I have dogs too, and understand what you are saying. Can you bounce flash off a ceiling or wall on the dog (mine don't like direct flash in their oh so sensitive eyes)? Enjoy!

Meanderthal wrote in post #13562896
I have dogs too, and understand what you are saying. Can you bounce flash off a ceiling or wall on the dog (mine don't like direct flash in their oh so sensitive eyes)? Enjoy!

I dont have any flash equipment. On-camera stock flash only, and I haven't figured out how to bounce it anywhere yet. They make handy little things that hook into the hotshoe and hang a little reflector over the flash, but I'm banned from buying ANYTHING until after Christmas.

Good idea not to go crazy with spending . White paper will reflect light but the on-camera flash doesn't have much power. Use some kind of reflecting material to re-direct natural light, when shadows are too deep. White foam sheet, tin foil wrapped around cardboard... be innovative!

Meanderthal wrote in post #13563818
Good idea not to go crazy with spending . White paper will reflect light but the on-camera flash doesn't have much power. Use some kind of reflecting material to re-direct natural light, when shadows are too deep. White foam sheet, tin foil wrapped around cardboard... be innovative!

Innovative....hmm. Perhaps the reflective side of an car's sun shade? haha. I think I may try that next time, I have 2 of those.