The Dog

[paulm]

After previous photo's comments i have tried a few of the tips. Getting there?

[FrankMi]

Priceless expression!

Not sure why but his eyes appear to have a hazy, rather than a clear and sharp look and normally you would see the catch light in the same relative position to the pupil.

[rpcrowe]

Frank, I think that the hazy look of the eyes are a result of light bouncing back from the dogs retina. This will almost always happen when shooting direct flash but, can frequently happen when bouncing the flash and using a reflector/diffuser to toss some of the light forward. That is why I am so fond of my Joe Demb Flash Difuser Pro. ( www.dembflashproducts.com )

The articulating FlipIt portion of the Flash Difuser Pro allows me to adjust how much light is thrown forward when bouncing...



I tend to use the FlipIt tilted somewhat backwards when shooting dogs. This reduces the chances of the eyes glowing. This is difficult for me to correct in editing if I want the eyes to remain natural looking...

I tried using bounce flash with a diffuser which doesn't adjust when shooting this photo and the results were not what I liked. The eyes had that blue glow due to light reflecting back from the retina; even though I had bounced...



It could also be that any strong light coming directly from behind the camera (such as from a sunlit window or a glass door) could also cause the hazy glowing look to the eyes.

Paul, even with the bit of glowing eyes, this is a neat picture of the little pug. Shooting a dog from its own level helps us get personal with any dog - especially with a dog that has an expressive face of a pug.

[paulm]

Thanks for the comments Richard. I used all the info I have previously been given to take this shot. So there is no real way of getting rid of the haze in the eyes? Also do you have any more tips Richard for getting good dog pics?

[bambleweeney]

Yep, that is much better than your previous shots - I'd say you were getting there

[paulm]

I have just had a play on photoshop (which i need a lot of practice on) and got this. Any better?

[bambleweeney]

Actually Paul I prefer the first one (sorry). I think it looks more ... natural, this one is for me much too contrasty plus you've lost detail in the eyes which had really nice catchlights in them in the original shot. In general IMHO it's better to do several small local adjustments in Photoshop than large global changes. For example, if this was my shot I would have maybe just lightened the eyes a tad (perhaps with a levels layer and a mask) and possibly darkened the leg on the right side of the picture just a little to make the head more prominent. Perhaps just a little local sharpening on the forehead and some delicate contrast adjustment on his face, maybe a delicate vignette. Easy to get carried away in Photoshop if you don't have much experience of it though (I look back at my first efforts in Photoshop with embarassment - one or two of my current ones too).
The framing and composition of this is excellent though, so really well done on that.

[paulm]

I've just looked at the second pic for the first time since earlier and agree that it doesn't look very good. I'll stick to the simple things and try to not change the world. Cheers for the feedback. I do need to learn how to focus on 1 area of the image to adjust as I currently only know how to do the whole thing.

[rpcrowe]

Paul, There are a lot of things that you are doing right. First, you are getting down on the level with the dog. This allows the viewer to connect with the dog. I purposefully did not shoot this image from the dog's level because my main aim was to show the blanket of blooms covering the lawn around her. However, in this image, although it helps that the dog is looking at the camera, IMO you are a spectator and not connecting with the dog..



Getting down to the dog's level or bringing the dog up to your level, as I did in this image of a boxer puppy, allows the viewer to make an eye level connection with the dog.



Another thing that you are doing right is getting up close to the dog. I like close ups of dogs, especially dogs which have expressive faces like my Goldendoodle and your pug...



The wonderful world of digital photography allows us guilt free shooting. We can shoot all that we want without the sticker shock that used to accompany the processing of film. This really puts us in good shape for photographing our animals when the slightest change in attitude or expression often makes a shot...



One thing... My dogs are more cooperative and patient in having their portraits shot than my wife or daughter ever were. My dogs never say, "Not now my hair isn't straight!" or "Not now, my makep isn't on right!"

[paulm]

Cheers for that help Richard. It's good to see how you've done some of those images. I'll keep practicing and experimenting with different ways of capturing them (I have 2). I'll probably add new images to this thread from now on instead of having loads of threads

[rpcrowe]

Here are some of my various dog galleries...

Doodle Gallery:
http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Pets/Holl...061604&k=wrj4H

Maltese Gallery:
http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Pets/MALT...131047&k=fPmnc

Maltese Rescue Dog Gallery:
http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/MAL...896317&k=76UMt

Boxer Gallery:
http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/Box...839093&k=WDAqS