Cats and Dog Critique

[DrKimble]

Hi there, new to the forum. This seems like an active and collaborative place, and I look forward to picking up some tips as well as offering input as I can.

I've been shooting for a few years and I think I'm finally starting to make the transition from snapshot taker to someone who thinks a bit more about light, composition, and editing. The best advice I've read is "shoot what you love", and my main subjects now are pets.

I would love critiques on any of the following photos, whether it be shooting related or post-processing. Feel free to be nitpicky and no need so sugar-coat, that's why I'm here. Thanks much in advance!

#1 = Olympus E-M10 at 45mm (90mm FFE) f/3.5, 1/400s, iso 800


#2 = Olympus E-M10 at 45mm (90mm FFE) f/2.8, 1/200s, iso 800


#3 = Olympus E-M10 at 45mm (90mm FFE) f/1.8, 1/3200s, iso 200


#4 = Panasonic GF-1 at 20mm (40mm FFE) f/1.7, 1/250s, iso 400


#5 = Olympus E-M10 at 20mm (40mm FFE) f/2.8, 1/40s, iso 2000


#6 = Olympus E-M10 at 45mm (90mm FFE) f/3.2, 1/500s, iso 1600

[Shadowman]

Great timing on the captures, the postures and particular actions of the pets make the image.. It would help if you posted camera settings for each image, however in all the shots it looks like you are shooting at too slow of a shutter speed, handholding the camera as there is very soft focus, out of focus shots presented here. Also, whenever you have a moving subject you need to use a shutter speed fast enough to capture the movement.

[bnnrcn]

Welcome Dr.Kimble, would you like to add your real name to your profile like most of us did ? In addition to John's comments, although I don't shoot people and animals I would like to say that ' focusing on the eyes are very important for the pet shots and portrait shots' . I would crop most of the beige thing in #4 as it dominates the frame. I like the composition very much in #5 but the light is a bit too much on the cat's face. I hope to see more of your shots

[Dave Humphries]

Hi DrKimble, (yes, knowing a first name would be nice)

Welcome to the CiC forums from me.

I took the liberty of adding the EXIF data to your post above, because other than that omission, I thought it a very good introduction and request for feedback.

Feedback from me:

#1: good composition, I perhaps detect a little flare (reduced contrast) over the face due to the lighting, but otherwise this is super

#2: if mine I would clone out, or tone down, that bright yellow bit in top left corner, ideally pan the camera left a bit (given the angle of stare), but I suspect that might have brought more stuff into shot that I'd suggest cloning or cropping off (ya can't win)

#3: too bright?

#4: I agree with Binnur, for us that don't know what that is in shot, there's too much of it

#5: Watch exposure and consider significantly toning down the light leaking under the left hand side as it attracts attention and leads the eye out of frame

#6: too bright?

I wonder if your monitor is too dim, or if you are PPing in significant ambient light - either of which might cause you to produce images which we find too bright.

One last suggestion; bigger images than 500px on longest edge would be preferred, you could perhaps double that.

Hope that helps,

[DrKimble]

Hi all, thanks for the comments. I've updated the original post with larger photos, and added my name. And thanks Dave for adding the EXIF data, I'll remember to do that next time.

John/Binner: I try to aim for the eyes, but you are right that it looks like I missed on #2 and #4 (definitely apparent when looking at them 100%). Focusing might also be a DOF issue, I'm constantly trying to figure out optimal aperture to get the shutter speed I want and sometimes I slice it a bit too thin.

Binner, I'll look into evening the tones out when there is large discrepancy on the faces, thanks.

Dave: Thanks for stressing the backgrounds -- I'll be more careful to look at the full image for distractions. Because animals are often moving quickly I have to quickly compose and whatever's in the background is what it is, which means I'll need a more critical eye during post. I'll tinker with brightness a little bit, it might just be my taste on certain images but the dog one could certainly be taken down a notch. I am curious about your comment about exposure on #5 -- could you please expound? It was a fairly dark room resulting in me needing a relatively high ISO and lower shutter speed.

Thanks again all! And other thoughts would be great. Also a etiquette question: I have a few more pet shoots in the upcoming weeks, should I start a new post later or play add-on to this?

[bnnrcn]

David, we usually start new threads for our new images