Criticize me!!! :)

[Bshepps]

Hi all! I am new to CiC. A little background about me, I've been doing photography for about 11 years now, mainly as an amatuer. I have in the last year taken the steps into the professional world, mainly in the niche of animal photography (dogs, to be even MORE specific). I actually have a blog (link at the bottom) and since yesterday was throwback thursday, I did a post showing my evolution as a photographer.

Besides the point.

I am looking for some criticism on my animal portraiture, that I can use going forward. So I will post my best work to date, and hopefully I can can get some good feedback.


Focal Length: 51 F Stop: 6.3 Exposure Time: 1/125 ISO 100


Focal Length: 55 F Stop: 7.1 Exposure Time: 1/30


Focal Length: 36.97 F Stop: 4.9 Exposure time: 1/60 ISO 800

So, I'm not sure what to say about these exactly. The first and third photos were taken outside in natural light, the second was in natural light, but indoors. Thanks for your time!

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My Dog Photography Blog!
http://bbspetphotography.weebly.com/...otography-blog

[rpcrowe]

Most often, I like to shoot my dogs from "their" eye level, that way we look directly into the dog's eyes rather than looking down at it...

#1: This tends to be cropped in a somewhat awkward way, cutting off the dogs ears. I would have liked it better if your original framing was a bit higher and to the image right which would have included the entire ears. The area of floor to the image left of the dog really doesn't contribute to the image. I's consider cropping it out a bit... If you had framed the original image higher and toimage right it might have eliminated some of the floor...

#2: I like this shot and it is one of those shots that gives lie to the standard - shoot from the dogs level - advice... Often cute little dogs peering up tug at peoples heart strings...

#3: Again, this is a somewhat awkward crop "for me:... I would prefer it cropped a bit looser or perhaps even a bit tighter.

You have focused well on the eyes of these dogs and the exposure seems pretty well on.

Keep shooting and posting...

[JR1]

I agree I rarely shoot anything standing up, because it is what everyone (99% do)

You have cropped too close, 1,3 ears missing

Don't stop though

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Sherwood,

I agree with Richard and Jeremy, so (in addition) my suggestion to improve is to "consider your backgrounds".

#1 the background is fairly well blurred, although the bolt heads and holes do attract my attention away from the subject - these could be cloned out in PP, but in future; think ahead and try to avoid the issue at time of shooting (whenever possible)

#2 while I appreciate the blanket may be his/her favorite, the colours (the red especially) are a real attention grabber, away from the subject, which is generally considered not a good thing. In future; try paler colours, ideally something that complements the animal's own colour(s)

#3 the background is barely visible, so no problem

Do check out Richard's pet shooting, he has many threads here, some with how he did it.

Good luck, Dave

[Shadowman]

I looked at your blog and it seems to span about twelve years, at least with the images; but has only a few entries. I read that successful blogs are updated at least on a weekly basis. If you want the blog to be your marketing tool, you should consider keeping a daily log or try free-writing, just devote about 30 minutes a day to writing whatever comes to mind, perhaps it will help you find topics for your blog and possibly help with future dog photography assignments.

[selig1656]

Not really much to add , I believe Richard/rpcrowe pretty much was spot on. The reflection in the eyes in pic #2 &#3 is great .

[William W]

They are very slow Shutter Speeds that you are choosing to shoot moving Subjects, Hand Held at Close Range in Available Light.

WW

[Bshepps]

Thanks Richard!

An additional question I have, is do you think it's distracting having a dogs eyes in focus, but their nose out of focus? I like to keep a really open aperture so as to really isolate the subject, but many of my dogs have longer faces, and getting both their nose and eyes in focus can be a pain. Though, focusing solely on the nose can be an interesting photo, it's not what most people want to look at when they look at a dog picture (I do, but I'm weird)

[William W]

. . . additional question I have, is do you think it's distracting having a dogs eyes in focus, but their nose out of focus?

As a general comment and a guideline for a rule of thumb: Yes. I find it distracting.

***

Though, focusing solely on the nose can be an interesting photo, it's not what most people want to look at when they look at a dog picture

It does NOT have to be one - OR - the other.

You can attain - BOTH - Subject Isolation - AND – all of the dog's head in acceptably sharp focus by many means – the easiest is arguably using a larger Subject to Background Distance and a suitable Aperture to attain the Depth of Field that you require.

Subject Isolation is NOT ONLY attained by just using a very large aperture.

Subject Isolation has many factors, including but not limited to:

Aperture;
Subject Distance;
Background Distance;
Subject Lighting;
Background Lighting;
Background Texture;
Camera Format;
Framing and Cropping

*

Example of Dog with a long nose that is shot, directly head on.

The Nose Eyes and Ears are in acceptably sharp focus and subject's HEAD remains isolated from the background and also from its body:



WW

Image © WMW 1974~1996 / AJ Group Pty Ltd (AUS) 1996~2015

[NorthernFocus]

An additional question I have, is do you think it's distracting having a dogs eyes in focus, but their nose out of focus?...

Well if you're selling dog portraits like that then you have your answer.

I also shoot a lot of dogs(for personal use and professionally) and IMO it is not acceptable. A dog's nose is a huge part of the personallity. Also many times having anything that is fairly large/prominent in the FG that is OOF is distracting. I typically won't even present a shot to a client if the nose is OOF. One exception would be if the nose is only slightly soft and it is an otherwise exceptional shot due to content. Another exception is in situations like the one shot on your blog where the dog's nose is so close to the camera that everything is out of proportion with almost a fisheye effect. In that case it's a bit of an abstract anyway so the nose isn't as important.

If you want to shoot wide open, try focusing on the bridge of the nose rather than either eyes or nose. Sometimes on real dark colored, short haired dogs it doesn't work too well. Of course the trick is getting the buggers to be still long enough to focus. Shooting bursts helps with that.

[rpcrowe]

I find it pretty difficult to shoot dogs using (most) available light indoors. Shooting with just available light requires one of these parameters or all of them...

1. Wide aperture - with possible focus problems
2. Slow shutter speed with corresponding camera/subject movement
3. High ISO with possible resultant noise

Adding additional light (whether it be hotshoe flash, studio strobe or continuous light sources) will allow you to shoot at a smaller f/stop, faster shutter speed, lower ISO or any combination of the above...

When shooting with set up lights (on stands, etc.) it is best to have another person control the dog. My wife and I have become a pretty good pair at shooting our rescue dogs...

If I am shooting alone or just following the dog around, I will most often use a hotshoe flsh with a diffuser reflector...

However, one thing that I try to do is to shoot enough images so that I don't need to use a shot of the dog that doesn't look good. Some dogs are a LOT EASIER TO PHOTOGRAPH... This might be because they are better looking to begin with or because they are more relaxed or cooperative.

I almost always shoot with flash indoors and shoot fill fill flash quite often outdoors.

Having freshly charged batteries in my hotshoe flash (when I am using that for light) is imperative. Occasionally, I have missed shots because the flash did not recycle fast enough.

I have two cameras and I will generally leave them set up with a lens attached and often with a flash attached. Usually one camera is in my office (where the dogs hang out whenever I am here on the computer) and the second camera is in my breakfast nook where I have a good view of my back yard. That way, I can often grab a candid shot when I see one such as this one of my goldendoodle on the lawn covered with jacaranda blooms...



Or my daughters Lab laying on the ice plant...



Many, if not most of my images are for posting on the Internet's various rescue dog sites. I will normally use a plain background, consisting of a fleece fabric over an arm chair.



When I shoot outdoors, I tend to try for a background that doesn't compete with my subject. I will very often shoot at f/4 using a longer focal length. This will blur the background but, will most often hold the focus with both nose and eyes in focus.



Sometimes, I will use some type of prop like in these images...





I have to admit that it is a bit easier to shoot small dogs but, large ones can be managed quite effectively also...

As with people, we try to shoot the dog at an angle in which the dog looks best. This depends on what the dog looks like to start off with. This rescue Labradoodle was shot at f/4 to blur the BG but, it still maintains focus on eyes and nose. She is not the prettiest dog but , IMO, she looks good in a straight on shot...



This boxer pup was shot with a studio strobe bounced into an umbrella from overhead and a studio strobe shot through a translucent umbrella from near the camera position...



This outdoor shot of the above puppy's dad was done at 55mm and f/5.6 allowing some blurring of the BG but not totally blurred. I deliberately left space in front of the dog because of that intent gaze...