Buddy the Brit C&C Please

C&C Please, Which photo do you like?

As captured

Photo 1

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the fake background you've added is a bit too obvious for me - you've just removed too much hair!!

I agree with phylet, the extraction of background from and edge with hair technique is one of the most difficult task in PS. Also I find the pic a bit soft, colors look good. You may want to take a look at Russell Brown's techniques for extracting backgrounds at http://www.russellbrow​n.com/tips_tech.html . Just scroll down the page and you'll find the advanced background extraction video tutorials. BTW the bg in the first pic is distracting so a cleaner bg definitively helps this shot.

The focus isn't good on the shot - a bit OOF. And #2 the background looks really fake - one solid color of grey. So I'd have to pick #1 if I had to choose.

Hi Bob, I couldn't help but notice your doggie, I think the 1st photo is best. My wife thought it was our dog at first so as you can see I've a bit of a soft spot for English Springer Spaniels as we have one, Here's mine called Buzz so you can see the likeness.

Cutting out the background just hasn't worked. I had a similar issue with a photo of my cat some while ago, and the responses I received included some very helpful advice and a PhotoShop tutorial. You can read it at Help wanted - separating cat from background.

However most of the recommendations were to simply take another shot with a better (less cluttered) background. If you were to do that, you could hopefully get it in focus next time too.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I looked at Russell site, full of good information. I use PS Elements which is limited in its editing capabilities. The 2nd photo is wallpaper on a 17" LCD so that is why I picked the gray background. I think the gray background makes bud stand out.

Attic, Buzz looks just like Bud. I agree looking at both of them quickly they appear to be the same dog.

Bob

I like the first one the best. The chair and cabinets in the background make the picture seem more organic and real. The fake background makes is obviously fake and the dog looks like he had a haircut. The only problem with the first one is that I finde the red collar distracting.

The first one is best...the second one is too fake looking because of all the missing fur.