Freezing Motion.

For a photography course. Freezing motion is the assignment. I know my background kind of sucks, but I only let my dogs free in my yard.
Is it in focus and sharp? Does it have impact? I have taken a few and this is my favorite.
Is there anyway I can improve in post?
Feedback would be much appreciated.
Thank You!
Karen

Karen:

I'm not sure what your camera picked to focus on...could be the ball or the tail. If you could have selected the focus point that was on his face and make his eye "tack sharp", the picture might have come together better.

The light looks a bit harsh. A bit of fill flash from the pop-up might have balanced the lighting a bit and brightened the white fur under his chin. The flash might have helped stop the action at a lower shutter speed, too. You probably didn't need the 1/1500 to stop the action here. Did you try any at 1/1000 or 1/640?

Your background is your background. A wider aperture would have blurred the background more, but the depth of field for in-focus gets very shallow.

I can see you've taught him well to "keep your eye on the ball!"

Thanks for sharing!

MavRyder wrote in post #15255072
Is it in focus and sharp? Can't tell, you need to examine the dog's eye at 100%
Does it have impact? No, it's really quite a boring shot to me. Looks like the ball was missed, no excitement.
Is there anyway I can improve in post? I think this is a major flaw in amateur photography today. Just put junk through an Instagram type filter and call it good? Really? Aren't you in a photography course? Your camera settings would certainly stop motion so technique is not the issue. It's up to you to create an interesting situation, with or without the dog. There is some pretty interesting dog photography right here on POTN. You could search for "dog".
Feedback would be much appreciated. Now you have a bit of mine.
Thank You!
Karen

No, Thank You!

cpam.pix wrote in post #15255258
Karen:

I'm not sure what your camera picked to focus on...could be the ball or the tail. If you could have selected the focus point that was on his face and make his eye "tack sharp", the picture might have come together better.

The light looks a bit harsh. A bit of fill flash from the pop-up might have balanced the lighting a bit and brightened the white fur under his chin. The flash might have helped stop the action at a lower shutter speed, too. You probably didn't need the 1/1500 to stop the action here. Did you try any at 1/1000 or 1/640?

Your background is your background. A wider aperture would have blurred the background more, but the depth of field for in-focus gets very shallow.

I can see you've taught him well to "keep your eye on the ball!"

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the feedback!
I agree would have loved a flash but was not allowed to use it for the assignment.

ChunkyDA wrote in post #15255264
No, Thank You!

Yes! thank you. I learned that idiots still exist!!!
Nothing you have said has helped a newbie with improving. You have made no suggestions on how to improve. Just barfed out a lot of negative attitude. I have been on this website for over a year, look up all my posts, and I am not a hot head, nor do I take criticism poorly
Your reply does not add anything positive. And has totally turned me off!! You really do give a bad representation of this website.

Great shot! The face could be a little more in focus, but trust me I know how hard it is to get a shot like this of your dog, focus on the face is "hit and miss". I like it cuz it looks like your dog is saying "whoa... I just pooped a ball!! coooollll!!" lol...

MavRyder wrote in post #15255476
Yes! thank you. I learned that idiots still exist!!!
Nothing you have said has helped a newbie with improving. You have made no suggestions on how to improve. Just barfed out a lot of negative attitude. I have been on this website for over a year, look up all my posts, and I am not a hot head, nor do I take criticism poorly
Your reply does not add anything positive. And has totally turned me off!! You really do give a bad representation of this website.

There certainly seems to be an increasing number of forum members that are taking this kick in the balls approach to "critiquing" images. I guess it's just an effort to make themselves feel superior. How about a little common courtesy? And if you don't know how then go find someone that can teach you. Learn some bloody manners.

Mav......with regard to your photo.....are you using single point focus? This will give you the ability to select the focus point and not the camera. It does look like the focus point is on his tail or even the ball. You can see the fuzz on the tennis ball. I love the way he's dialed in on the ball. Because his fur is so dark it is going to be hard to see definition in his face without a flash, but it's still a cool picture. You achieved the goal of the assignment, you stopped the motion.

jpappilli wrote in post #15255619
Great shot! The face could be a little more in focus, but trust me I know how hard it is to get a shot like this of your dog, focus on the face is "hit and miss". I like it cuz it looks like your dog is saying "whoa... I just pooped a ball!! coooollll!!" lol...

I know I had to take a few hundred to get this one. I am both throwing the ball and taking the picture and he is just so much faster than me. I find it hard to get that little red dot on a fast moving object.

saea501 wrote in post #15256213
There certainly seems to be an increasing number of forum members that are taking this kick in the balls approach to "critiquing" images. I guess it's just an effort to make themselves feel superior. How about a little common courtesy? And if you don't know how then go find someone that can teach you. Learn some bloody manners.

Mav......with regard to your photo.....are you using single point focus? This will give you the ability to select the focus point and not the camera. It does look like the focus point is on his tail or even the ball. You can see the fuzz on the tennis ball. I love the way he's dialed in on the ball. Because his fur is so dark it is going to be hard to see definition in his face without a flash, but it's still a cool picture. You achieved the goal of the assignment, you stopped the motion.

Appreciate your comment.
Yes I am using the middle focus point. I definitely see that I missed the focus on his face. I am standing up throwing the ball and getting down on my knees as fast as I can to take the pic. He is just much faster than me. I know those dark faces are very difficult with out a flash.
Thank you for your cc and help.

MavRyder wrote in post #15255476
Yes! thank you. I learned that idiots still exist!!!
Nothing you have said has helped a newbie with improving. You have made no suggestions on how to improve. Just barfed out a lot of negative attitude. I have been on this website for over a year, look up all my posts, and I am not a hot head, nor do I take criticism poorly
Your reply does not add anything positive. And has totally turned me off!! You really do give a bad representation of this website.

Mav,

I am with you 100%, I thought he was kidding at first, I had to re-read it to make sure. I also agree that this is increasingly becoming more common, the rudeness, that is. Just very recently I found out how to BLOCK the crazies like that, it doesn't hurt them any, but it makes me feel better.
You are so correct though, this guy is giving POTN a bad name, especially if a person is very new here, imagine what they must think.

As far as the shot goes, I don't have any real criticism, but I don't think it's a bad shot, and as far as the pose, it's pretty good, there may be some things wrong, but it doesn't kill the shot.
If you were a pro, or semi-pro, then maybe a lot more could be said, but it's a good shot that any dog owner would like to see and have of their own dog. (With the exception of me, my wife and I have a Yorkie! I can't see a Yorkie doing that! heheh)
It could have more room at the top, but for an assignment it does what you needed, it tells the story by freezing it. If you placed this on a completely different background, then you would have a big improvement on it. I'm like you, ain't no way I'm going to take my dogs out to a park and let them run loose, I even watch them in my backyard.

I'm sorry that this guy may have ruined your day though, hopefully he'll take a lesson from this, but he doesn't appear to be that kind of person.

Randy

MavRyder wrote in post #15256473
Appreciate your comment.
Yes I am using the middle focus point. I definitely see that I missed the focus on his face. I am standing up throwing the ball and getting down on my knees as fast as I can to take the pic. He is just much faster than me. I know those dark faces are very difficult with out a flash.
Thank you for your cc and help.

Try setting the camera to AI Servo and to burst mode. Maybe try throwing the ball from a kneeling position or, better still, have someone else throw it.

If you are able to crack off 8 or 10 frames you're more likely to get some keepers.

Don't let the turkeys get you down.

I like the shot - your timing was pretty good. Focus does appear to be on the ball though. If you are letting the camera select your focus point - don't! I'm not familiar with the T2i focusing options but single point AF adjusted to where you want it in the frame, AI Servo, back button focus, high speed drive - grab a couple shots as fast as the camera can. Based on your shutter speed and ISO you had room for even more DOF.

But kudos for not insisting on using f1.8. That 85/1.8 is a great lens, especially for the price but f1.8 can be tough on DOF.

recrisp wrote in post #15256751
Mav,

I am with you 100%, I thought he was kidding at first, I had to re-read it to make sure. I also agree that this is increasingly becoming more common, the rudeness, that is. Just very recently I found out how to BLOCK the crazies like that, it doesn't hurt them any, but it makes me feel better.
You are so correct though, this guy is giving POTN a bad name, especially if a person is very new here, imagine what they must think.

As far as the shot goes, I don't have any real criticism, but I don't think it's a bad shot, and as far as the pose, it's pretty good, there may be some things wrong, but it doesn't kill the shot.
If you were a pro, or semi-pro, then maybe a lot more could be said, but it's a good shot that any dog owner would like to see and have of their own dog. (With the exception of me, my wife and I have a Yorkie! I can't see a Yorkie doing that! heheh)
It could have more room at the top, but for an assignment it does what you needed, it tells the story by freezing it. If you placed this on a completely different background, then you would have a big improvement on it. I'm like you, ain't no way I'm going to take my dogs out to a park and let them run loose, I even watch them in my backyard.

I'm sorry that this guy may have ruined your day though, hopefully he'll take a lesson from this, but he doesn't appear to be that kind of person.

Randy

Thanks so much for your comments its much appreciated! To be honest I was a little stunned.
I did crop the top off. Maybe too tight?? I was trying to get rid of the neighbors house.
Thanks again! your comments are much appreciated.

Karen

saea501 wrote in post #15256816
Try setting the camera to AI Servo and to burst mode. Maybe try throwing the ball from a kneeling position or, better still, have someone else throw it.

If you are able to crack off 8 or 10 frames you're more likely to get some keepers.

Thanks for the feedback. I am using AI servo and burst mode. Raw seems to slow down burst mode by locking up camera?
I suck at throwing a ball and yet to convince hubby. Well I am going to keep on practicing.
Thanks for the encouragement and feedback.

Karen

Karen,

Ohhh, I'm sorry, I meant, 'the bottom', not the top.
Actually, it's a 'little' tight at the top, but the bottom needs it more, the reason is, if there were more bottom room, he'd look like he's higher. That would tell a story better that way. If this was an underwater shot, you'd have more room at the top to show that he's farther down. (I say, "he", maybe that's a female?)

Also, I meant to say, that is a very nice looking dog, very nice, I love that kind, I was forced to own a Yorkie 'cause my wife says so. heheh
(Really, I love that our dog, but I was still forced in the beginning)

You may want to throw the ball very high, then wait for the bounce to get your dog to react, that might be easier for you since you are throwing and taking the shot, just an idea. (Of course, I'd lose the ball if I did that!)

Randy