Girl and her beloved dog - C&C Welcomed

[KimC]

Took some pictures today of this very sweet girl and her beloved dog. As always, C&C are welcomed!

#1 - This first one if my favorite -- to me it shows her very sweet spirit - always like the ones that they don't know I am taking
ISO 100; 85; F5; 1/250



#2 - I think this one is just sweet of the two of them.
ISO 100; 85; F5; 1/100



#3 - This was another one that she was just playing with her dog... I said her name and she looked at me..
ISO 200; 85; F5; 1/125



#4 - This was just a fun one -- she wanted a picture of the both of them in sweatshirt. Lesson learned, the Sunny 16 Rule works!
ISO 100; 35; F16; 1/100

[Kodiak]

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Happy birthday Kim,

Sweet girl, friendly dog, and good shots…
Looks like you had a good day!

[pnodrog]

They are all lovely, natural and unpretentious photographs. I admire how you have managed to avoid the problems that can occur with dapled light.

[rpcrowe]

Heartwarming series that is also photographically well done...

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[IzzieK]

Although all are very good, I have a sweet spot on #2 and #4...so sweet...I love the smile of both in #4 -- the sharp background of the tree stubble is a bit distracting. I worry about it -- looks like a twisted face...

[Mike Buckley]

If this type of photography is appealing to you, continue working at it. You seem to have a natural affinity for it. Though all of the photos are reasonably appealing, none of them are memorable for me because none of them establish a really strong connection between girl and dog. You could have made that happen in #3 if the girl had been connecting with the dog instead of the camera.

[KimC]

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Happy birthday Kim,

Sweet girl, friendly dog, and good shots…
Looks like you had a good day!

Thanks Daniel & thanks for the birthday wishes. I'll see this evening if the speed light is my present. :-)

[KimC]

They are all lovely, natural and unpretentious photographs. I admire how you have managed to avoid the problems that can occur with dapled light.

Thank you for the kind comments L.Paul.

[KimC]

Heartwarming series that is also photographically well done...

Thank you for sharing your thoughts Richard. :-)

[KimC]

Nice series.

Thank you John.

[KimC]

Although all are very good, I have a sweet spot on #2 and #4...so sweet...I love the smile of both in #4 -- the sharp background of the tree stubble is a bit distracting. I worry about it -- looks like a twisted face...

Thank you Izzie! Great comment about the tree; I didn't see that. Comments like that help me to change my eye.

[KimC]

If this type of photography is appealing to you, continue working at it. You seem to have a natural affinity for it. Though all of the photos are reasonably appealing, none of them are memorable for me because none of them establish a really strong connection between girl and dog. You could have made that happen in #3 if the girl had been connecting with the dog instead of the camera.

I do like this kind of photography Mike. I have some others that I did not have time to process which get at your point. I need to figure out how to get people more comfortable just being themselves rather than worrying about the camera. Is it only the connection that's missing that makes these reasonable, or are there some other changes I should have made in your opinion. I'm here to learn...

[Mike Buckley]

I need to figure out how to get people more comfortable just being themselves rather than worrying about the camera.

Part of that has to do with the photographer's personality, how the photographer interacts with the subjects. The other part has to do with giving the subjects sufficient time to get used to the photographer. Film photographers would often release the shutter lots of times, not having told the subjects that no film was in the camera by intention. Once the subjects began to ignore the camera, the photographer would then load the film.

Is it only the connection that's missing that makes these reasonable, or are there some other changes I should have made in your opinion.

Just the missing connection. The light in the first three is more flattering than in the last one for me, so always think about that but that's true for anything you would photograph.