O'l Blue busy background

[gregj1763]

Here is another shot from my last thread thread Hosier Lane

O'l blue belonged to one of the guy's there and I loved the intensity of his stare toward his owner, there was no way I could get him to look at me. Typical for the breed, a one person dog.
The background was competing for attention with this shot so I subdued the colour, cropped, sharpened the focal point and blurred the background and a bit of general tiding up with the rubbish etc.
Has it worked? are there any suggestions to improve.
Greg


SOOC





EDIT

[Shadowman]

The edit is much better, the original has such a high tone that it leaves very little detail; also I'm sure the busy background made for a difficult task of focusing.

[IzzieK]

What's the story with the Blue Heeler there, Greg...anyway, I like this one too, but the other childish one I just saw earlier looks better...

[FootLoose]

I like the crop with just the dog, although I think might be a little too tight on the top and bottom. But I like the way the tightened rope directs the viewer's eye along the line of the dog's stare. The tenseness of its body adds to the drama of the portrait.

[gregj1763]

What's the story with the Blue Heeler there, Greg...anyway, I like this one too, but the other childish one I just saw earlier looks better...

Thanks Izzie, Bit hard to say who was the owner. There were a couple of homeless guys camped in a little alcove about 10 metres away and the dog seemed to be looking at them. he wasn't there the next day so I guess he was ok

[gregj1763]

The edit is much better, the original has such a high tone that it leaves very little detail; also I'm sure the busy background made for a difficult task of focusing.

Thanks John, it certainly was a busy place colour wise it felt like being inside a kaleidoscope

[gregj1763]

I like the crop with just the dog, although I think might be a little too tight on the top and bottom. But I like the way the tightened rope directs the viewer's eye along the line of the dog's stare. The tenseness of its body adds to the drama of the portrait.

Thanks Greg, yes in hindsight it might be a bit tight, an easy fix

[Max von MeiselMaus]

That is a great pose for that dog, leading the eye line into the picture. And, yup, what a busy background.

What might have worked (or might not. It would need trying) is if you could have placed the entire dog against the mural, rather than part against the mural and part against the fence. He might have disappeared completely, but his grey colouring might have been just enough to set him off against all that chaos. You would have had to get on the other side of that fence and shoot through, from low down, but it might have worked.

Failing that, the crop works well. I would also have given him a bit more head room and some more floor to stand on, but I like that you have a good amount of space for him to look into.

A really nice shot.

[TonyW]

I would crop it on the right to exclude the panel with the children but no more. The picture of the mermaid (?) complements the colour of the dog. I would do a perspective adjustment to straighten up the verticals in the fence. It's nice though.

[gregj1763]

Thanks Max & Tony, lazy Sunday so I will have another go at editing this image.

[gregj1763]

Another edit, giving Blue a bit more room top and bottom, more space on right and straightening the fence bars
Thanks for the comments

[KimC]

Great shot Greg. I like the intensity of the dog's stare as well, especially in such a busy environment. I also feel the red leash and collar adds to the image. I prefer the crop in your revised version as I also thought he needed more room.

[Max von MeiselMaus]

That's better, and directs that intense stare even more. That swirl in the background has also become a compositional element, balancing the other mass of grey: the dog. I like it!

[gregj1763]

Thanks Kim and Max. I'm a lot happier with the image now.

[IzzieK]

For a homeless dog, it is a little bit on the chubby side...well at least it does not look like it is starving...anyway, good edit this time around, Greg...

[gregj1763]

Thanks Izzie