Boy & his dog C&C welcomed

[KimC]

So, I am taking a portrait class (need some help - have a hard time with people) at a local college. For my homework this week, I offered my little friend a few $s to pose for me :-) At the end of the session, I caught an image I just love (it's not a portrait). Be sure to enlarge it...

ISO 100; 85 m; F 6.3; 1/320

[bnnrcn]

Hi Kim Very cute dog. IMO it would be better if the dog didn't look so small in the scene. I would try cropping the image from left and right to make the boy and the dog look bigger and to concentrate on what is going on between them more. I don't think the crop would look bad because the boy would look going out of the frame and the dog would look getting in to the frame this way

PS 1. I would also add a little clarity, vibrance and saturation to the image.

PS 2. I forgot to say that IMO the image needs a little rotation (anticlockwise).

[Geoff F]

Yes, I think that cropping closer at the sides might work.

It would place both main subjects a little too close to the frame edges but because they are both looking towards the centre it should still work OK.

Alternatively, I might try to 'move' the dog a little closer to the centre then crop the right side. With a bit of feathering I think it should move without too much problems with the grass.

[Geoff F]

Problem with posting a reply. My computer froze then produced a duplicate reply!

[Mike Buckley]

I offered my little friend a few $s to pose for me :-)

Now that you've explained how you enticed the dog, what did you do for the boy?

[Shadowman]

Nice image, I think everyone is overlooking the danger of what is taking place or could take place, and for me that is what makes this image work so well; I shudder to think what is ahead of the boy.

[KimC]

Hi Kim Very cute dog. IMO it would be better if the dog didn't look so small in the scene. I would try cropping the image from left and right to make the boy and the dog look bigger and to concentrate on what is going on between them more. I don't think the crop would look bad because the boy would look going out of the frame and the dog would look getting in to the frame this way

PS 1. I would also add a little clarity, vibrance and saturation to the image.

PS 2. I forgot to say that IMO the image needs a little rotation (anticlockwise).

Thanks for the comments Binnur. I modified based on your suggestions-- cropped a tiny bit -- didn't like how it looked tighter. I also rotated a tiny bit (enough?) Better?

[KimC]

Yes, I think that cropping closer at the sides might work.

It would place both main subjects a little too close to the frame edges but because they are both looking towards the centre it should still work OK.

Alternatively, I might try to 'move' the dog a little closer to the centre then crop the right side. With a bit of feathering I think it should move without too much problems with the grass.

Thanks Geoff. Check out what I did in my response back to Binnur. I thought about moving the dog, but truthfully my PS skills are pretty poor at this point for such things....

[KimC]

Now that you've explained how you enticed the dog, what did you do for the boy?

But of course, gave him a biscuit. ;-)

[KimC]

Nice image, I think everyone is overlooking the danger of what is taking place or could take place, and for me that is what makes this image work so well; I shudder to think what is ahead of the boy.

This child is such a dare devil John. I did get a portrait shot that perfectly captures that in him :-)

[Mike Buckley]

This has proven to be a really interesting exercise that I wouldn't have been able to predict (even if Kim had given me a biscuit ). Compared to the first version, the second version makes me feel as if the dog is farther behind the boy even though we know that's not at all the case. Perhaps it is the placement of the dog closer to the frame that makes me think that if it loses any ground it will be out of the frame.

So, I tried another crop: I cropped on the right at about the same place that Kim cropped but I left almost all of the space on the left side. Doing so retained the feeling that the dog was trying its hardest to catch up and also provides the negative space for the boy to "drive into." The different amounts of space on the right and left also renders the composition more energetic and less static for me.

[KimC]

This has proven to be a really interesting exercise that I wouldn't have been able to predict (even if Kim had given me a biscuit ). Compared to the first version, the second version makes me feel as if the dog is farther behind the boy even though we know that's not at all the case. Perhaps it is the placement of the dog closer to the frame that makes me think that if it loses any ground it will be out of the frame.

So, I tried another crop: I cropped on the right at about the same place that Kim cropped but I left almost all of the space on the left side. Doing so retained the feeling that the dog was trying its hardest to catch up and also provides the negative space for the boy to "drive into." The different amounts of space on the right and left also renders the composition more energetic and less static for me.

Mike would you mind posting your crop?

[Mike Buckley]

My crop, as requested. The colors are perhaps a little different because the gremlins took over and prevented me from downloading the image; I had to use a screenshot.

[rpcrowe]

I love the feeling of the image... A boy (or girl for that matter) and a dog have a special relationship. I still remember and feel love for a dog that I grew up with even though that was close to 65 years ago.

As far as the image... I remember that Photoshop Elements had a way to crop out the middle of an image like this and move the important elements of the image closer to each other using the Content Aware Move Tool.

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-phot...nt-aware-move/

I have never done this but, it appears to be possible using Photoshop CS6...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgi74GhtJk4

I also do not know if this type of move is possible with a complicated background like in this image. However, if it could be done effectively, I think reducing the distance between boy and the dog would be good for this image. Both the boy and the dog could be bigger in the resulting image...

Perhaps someone who is familiar with Content Aware Move could enter this discussion and help me jog my memory...

[KimC]

My crop, as requested. The colors are perhaps a little different because the gremlins took over and prevented me from downloading the image; I had to use a screenshot.

Thanks Mike, very interesting indeed. I agree with your view of the crop.

[KimC]

I love the feeling of the image... A boy (or girl for that matter) and a dog have a special relationship. I still remember and feel love for a dog that I grew up with even though that was close to 65 years ago.

As far as the image... I remember that Photoshop Elements had a way to crop out the middle of an image like this and move the important elements of the image closer to each other using the Content Aware Move Tool.

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-phot...nt-aware-move/

I have never done this but, it appears to be possible using Photoshop CS6...
...

Thank you for sharing this Richard. I'll have to check out the video to see if it might be possible.

[Shadowman]

I love the feeling of the image... A boy (or girl for that matter) and a dog have a special relationship. I still remember and feel love for a dog that I grew up with even though that was close to 65 years ago.

As far as the image... I remember that Photoshop Elements had a way to crop out the middle of an image like this and move the important elements of the image closer to each other using the Content Aware Move Tool.

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-phot...nt-aware-move/

I have never done this but, it appears to be possible using Photoshop CS6...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgi74GhtJk4

I also do not know if this type of move is possible with a complicated background like in this image. However, if it could be done effectively, I think reducing the distance between boy and the dog would be good for this image. Both the boy and the dog could be bigger in the resulting image...

Perhaps someone who is familiar with Content Aware Move could enter this discussion and help me jog my memory...

It can be done, you might have to remove a few of the shrubs to make a smooth transition.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Kim Your crop version is what I had in mind, but I think Mike's crop looks more energetic indeed. Another option would be to shoot this boy and cute dog again when you have the opportunity considering the points mentioned in this thread about composition.

I'm looking forward to seeing your portrait shots

PS. Last night I had difficulty posting my comments like Geoff did and even now it is a bit slow to post a comment. Does everybody have the same problem ?

[Mike Buckley]

Responding to Binnur's concern about posting messages: During the last couple of days I've been experiencing the same issues she and Geoff have been experiencing and the system has also been very slow for me on all fronts.

[bnnrcn]

Kim, I forgot to say that IMO the tone of the greens is a bit strong in your crop. Actually I like that color nothing wrong with it but it makes the dog less noticeable because the green area is big in the frame. If you reduce the hue and luminance (not saturation) of greens with HSL sliders it might help. I'm sure you can find the best balance by trying different amounts, it is personal preference anyway. You can also try adding some contrast to the dog selectively to make it more noticeable. I do my adjustments selectively by using layers in PS CC and that's why I may not be very helpful for edits in LR. But what I'm trying to say is that , the little dog needs some standing out