My dog, Cookie

[Samwise]

Hi All,

My first post here. I've had a dslr for a few years but never been really into technicals until I purchased a few len$e$ and decided to learn more.

Took this shot from my dog, Cookie, today using my Pentax 60-250. Would appreciate any feedback. Is this a good photo? What should have done to make it better? I'd honestly learn from any comment.

Cheers,
Samwise

Cookie by samwise.gamgee, on Flickr

[bnnrcn]

Welcome Samwise , would you like to add your real name to your profile as most of us have done ? The towel underneath Cookie is a bit distracting, I would crop half of the space above Cookie's head to make her/him (?) stand out more

[travis4567]

Welcome to the forum Sam, really nice photo. I would crop a bit and maybe do a mild vignette to make your precious Cookie stand out a bit more. Maybe I'll play with it if you don't mind.

[travis4567]

Played around in Lightroom for 5 minutes and came up with this.

[Jeffbridge]

Very cool shot! Great job!

[bnnrcn]

I like the edit

[thegman]

Nice original picture, also good edited version too, the blanket isn't so loud now. Just for my 2 pennies worth I would adjust it a couple of degrees counter clockwise just to make Cookie more vertical and background wall more horizontal. Lovely dog.

oops.........welcome to CiC Sam

[Samwise]

Thanks Binnur, Travis and Gerry, I'll take on board all the advice.

Hey Travis, great job with the edit The end result is really eye catching.

Sam

[Samwise]

Hi Travis,

Can you just tell what features in Lightroom you've applied.
Also was wondering can the same image been created by camera or is it inevitable to use post-processing?

Thanks,
Sam

[travis4567]

Hi Travis,

Can you just tell what features in Lightroom you've applied.
Also was wondering can the same image been created by camera or is it inevitable to use post-processing?

Thanks,
Sam

Lightroom 5
Highlights -100
Shadows +100
Whites +14
Black -52
Clarity +26
Vibrance +31
I also used the gradient filter to reduce saturation and exposure in the blanket

[Shadowman]

Nice effort and conversion.

[Downrigger]

Edited or not, the success here lies in the great capture of alert intelligence in the pup's expression.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Sam,

Welcome to the CiC forums from me.

Everyone above has given helpful advice and an example, to which I'll add that - if you couldn't avoid them at the time of shooting - you might, with a bit more PP work, want to clone out the two white pipes as they attract the viewers attention.

Also was wondering can the same image been created by camera or is it inevitable to use post-processing?

In my opinion, almost any and every shot can be improved with PP and I do consider it inevitable for everyday, outdoor shooting. Closely controlled, well lit, still life or product studio work is about the only genre where I could see that you might be able to do it all in camera, but only then after a lot of experience.


In this you did well with focus, DoF, exposure and dog training - and very importantly, you got down to Cookie's level.

A good start,

[rpcrowe]

Instead of commenting on how to improve the image, I'd like to point out a few things that you did RIGHT! First, you got down to the dogs level when shooting. You have the dog looking directly at you and, either purposefully or by chance, you have achieved catchlights in Cookie's eyes. I most often use fill flash outdoors to achieve catchlights which impart life to the eyes and therefore to the face of the dog. You achieved selective focus which minimized the impact of a rather busy background.

I prefer a more vanilla or plain background but, placing the BG OOF is a viable second choice.

What is Cookie? She sort of looks like a shih tsu - maltese cross...

[Samwise]

Instead of commenting on how to improve the image, I'd like to point out a few things that you did RIGHT! First, you got down to the dogs level when shooting. You have the dog looking directly at you and, either purposefully or by chance, you have achieved catchlights in Cookie's eyes. I most often use fill flash outdoors to achieve catchlights which impart life to the eyes and therefore to the face of the dog. You achieved selective focus which minimized the impact of a rather busy background.

I prefer a more vanilla or plain background but, placing the BG OOF is a viable second choice.

What is Cookie? She sort of looks like a shih tsu - maltese cross...

Thanks Richard, this was helpful.

Cookie is Moodle( Matese cross Poodle). I'll try to post a photo when he grows his coat back and looks so much cuter

[Samwise]

In a relevant comment, I groom Cookie myself so you can see my lousy job

[flashback]

I love the character caught in your photo, love to see more shots of Cookie.

[rpcrowe]

Thanks Richard, this was helpful.

Cookie is Moodle( Matese cross Poodle). I'll try to post a photo when he grows his coat back and looks so much cuter

We tend to call the Maltese + Poodle crosses: Maltipoos... However, I like Moodle better...

[chauncey]

All this advice is spot-on for after the shot PP work but...I would devote more time to planning the shot.
A less cluttered background would serve you better. Keep the same "dog's level" perspective.