Our dog...Tucker! Please critique...(first photo post)

Hello everybody,

This is the first time I posted a picture here and am asking for your critique. This photo is of our dog, Tucker, taken with my XT and 85mm lens. Please let me know what you all think. I can handle honesty, good or bad.

Thanks!

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

Great pic, ugly dog.

Graham

Thanks, Graham! He is P-ugly, isn't he? But that's what is so endearing about him. I actually shot this in Manual, which is a first for me. My settings were: 1/80, f4, ISO 200, with external flash unit. Could I have done better?

JennB wrote:
Thanks, Graham! He is P-ugly, isn't he? But that's what is so endearing about him. I actually shot this in Manual, which is a first for me. My settings were: 1/80, f4, ISO 200, with external flash unit. Could I have done better?

Jenn,

You did well to keep the nose and the eyes in focus. I would have gone for a slightly faster shutter speed, but you got away with it. If anything, it is a little dark, but a bit of post processing will pull that back - and a little sharpening will do it wonders.

Why am I thinking of Marty Feldman?

Graham

lol my mom would love this shot, she loves pugs. They really are so ugly that they're cute and you certainly captured that, great expression on the dogs face. Good use of DOF (the blurred hardwood floors make a nice background) and good composition but it's definitely too dark.

I agree with the other posters, it is a great capture, nice composition, a beautiful example of the breed, but a tad dark.

I betcha his Momma doesn't think he's ugly............

Graham, what would have been a better shutter speed? Any advice? As for post processing, I can use my PSE3 to do some of the sharpening and brightening. I didn't even realize it was that dark until you all mentioned it.:o

Usukshooter, thanks for the critique! I'm glad I did something right for my first manual shot. Yippppeeee!!!

Bruce, thank you for your honesty also. I truly appreciate everyone's comments and critiques. I will work on brightening up the photo.

JennB wrote:
Graham, what would have been a better shutter speed? Any advice? As for post processing, I can use my PSE3 to do some of the sharpening and brightening. I didn't even realize it was that dark until you all mentioned it.:o

Usukshooter, thanks for the critique! I'm glad I did something right for my first manual shot. Yippppeeee!!!

Bruce, thank you for your honesty also. I truly appreciate everyone's comments and critiques. I will work on brightening up the photo.

Faster shutter speed will freeze action. If the dog had moved slightly, it would have blurred. To a point, faster is better with moving subjects.

If you review your personal info, you can select 'edits allowed' and we can fiddle with your shots and see if we can improve them. Otherwise, we are prohibited from any edits. If you let us have a try, we can show how it can be improved by very minor photoshoping and let you know what we did. I think you may be suprised at what is achievable.

Graham

Graham, thanks for telling me about "edits." I was hoping someone would help me fix my photo. I just didn't know if it was alright to ask. Just goes to show how new I am here. So, edit all you want!

Really, you people think that's an ugly dog?

Sheesh. I thought it was adorable.

Humans can be so insensitive.

Graham, that looks fantastic! Will you please tell me what you did step-by-step? Pretty please! BTW, I only have Photoshop Elements, but I'm sure I can do the same adjustments with this software, right?

JennB wrote:
Graham, that looks fantastic! Will you please tell me what you did step-by-step? Pretty please! BTW, I only have Photoshop Elements, but I'm sure I can do the same adjustments with this software, right?

This was quite minor really. I did it in photoshop, but don't know elements so...

What I tried to achieve.

Lighten some of the mid tones to lessen contrast.
Add a little sharpening.

What I did.

I used curves, but you can use levels (look at the middle of the charts in both cases and have a fiddle and see what effect it has)
Then a little sharpening. Not much, but have a look at filter>sharpen>unsharp mask. I use a bought action, but try 100, 1, 5 as a starting point.

This is highly vague, because I don't know the programme and don't use the filters, but if you have an idea what you are trying to achive, it should help.

You are probably going to find some of these things making no sense as yet, but stick with it and keep using the search button to look for clearer advice on how to use the software.

Using the software will be the key to making your images really sing, so it's worth investing the time to get to know it.

Graham

That dog looks like the guy in all the Adam Sandler movies.......The guy with the buggy/wandering eye's and crooked teeth.... Sorry

Here's my attempt at post processing:

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.