Stanley and the leather chair

[PRSearls]

I took this image last year. This is my daughter's Shetland Sheep Dog, Stanley. This is one of his favorite places. We had been playing so his fur is a bit ruffled and not groomed for this shot. We're good friends: I have had two Shelties in the past and love that breed. I've taken many images of Stanley and this one is my favorite.

PRS

[rpcrowe]

I love this natural pose of a beautiful dog...

[Shadowman]

Nice one.

[Tri Danimal]

I grew up raising Shelties, We have had 3 of them, all great dogs.

[Tom Barry]

We had a blue merle Sheltie who was both handsome and sweet. Love this shot.

[pschlute]

Stanley is certainly a very handsome hound.

If I may be critical from a photographic standpoint:

Whilst you have captured him in his favourite place and for you that is important, for an observer of your photograph it presents a few problems. mainly the distracting background....bottom of a curtain; brickwork; hanging ornament; sideboard; and purple throw on the back of the chair.

A chair is a great prop for a dog photo especially if he likes sitting on it, but it is best to keep everything else out of the frame. Try cropping the image or use a collapsible photo background which will help to isolate the subject more.

You have nice natural lighting here but you could experiment with a diffused fill-flash too. That would help to get your shutter speed up a bit too, at 1/15 you run the risk of movement blurring the shot, especially if you want to have an image printed.

[PRSearls]

Thanks, Peter, for your critique. Your comments are certainly valid and these would improve the photo. This was one of those unplanned photography events (I was dog-sitting Stanley). This is a cropped image; the whole one puts this setting in context for my daughter and her family. Twenty years from now when Stanley (and me) are gone, it will bring back pleasant and happy memories of this time.

[FootLoose]

While Peter's observation are quite valid, I think you have captured a "family portrait" rather than a doggie portrait. Stanley certainly has an interesting expression on his face. Very nice.