How to make this better next time

I was taking some pics of a friends dog in the so called 'golden hour' light the other day just to play with my new lens. I was pretty bummed because some clouds rolled in in the distance and blocked the nice moody light. When I got home and started looking at the pics I actually liked what I saw for the most part. My main issue is the subject doesn't really separate from the background all that much. I'd ilke to try this again but actually approach it with a plan this time.

I feel like careful application of a flash would be what I need, but I am am very inexperienced with that aspect of photography. I do have a basic yongnou(sp?) speedlite setup 2x speedlites, stands, and umbrellas. How would set this up? Would just a reflector work? Maybe there is a processing technique that can help.

Photo from Stregone's gallery.
Image hosted by forum (784457)

It looks pretty good, but would have been even better with a 30X40" card bouncing some light into the head. A longer lens would have made the trees more out of focus, & I'd lose the leash.

Looking at the photo more I think I figured out what was bothering me. Her body is still getting some of that diffuse warm light, but her head is just barely not turned enough to get any. So it kinda de-emphasises her head. The whole photo has a nice warm feel to it, but her head is in blah flat light.

A reflector and flash gelled to match the orange light would solve that problem nicely, I suspect.

Here's what you can do with a little PP. I'll remove if you object to my editing it:

I think the lens choice will make a big difference, but also the use of one flash in an umbrella (or other diffuser) will make a big difference - giving the lighting a directional feel is usually a pleasing result.

Take a picture without flash, get the settings where you need them with the bg slightly under exposed, then ad flash into the mix. shutter speed controls ambient. aperture controls the flash exposure. it takes practice, so get a stuffed dog and figure out some settings to start with and then get the real thing.

I think you needed some fill flash but you can also lighten up the dog a bit in PP. I would use a curves layer, set the blending mode to luminosity then bring up the the light a bit then mask out the background so it stays dark.

First, kudos on getting him to actually pose.

- I like the clouds and find blue sky in many instances boring.
- If one of your goals was separation from the background, using the wide angle lens was the wrong choice. A longer focal lens wide open, and the increased distance from Fido, would have given you more separation. With your wide angle lens wide open, having to be so close to fill the frame negates any separation.
- Flat lighting isnt always a bad thing. Strong direct sunlight in this situation might have created exposure issues.
- Since you've gotten Fido to stand still for posing, trying spot metering off of him, if you feel the present exposure is too dark. If its cloudy or the light is on the flat side, reflectors wont throw that much light back.