Does it work c&c please

[stardelta]

For those of you who know me, know my favourite subject to photograph is my best friend jack.
I cropped the original and tried to have a play with settings, contrast, sepia, shadows etc, but I'm not sure I have achieved anything.
I would welcome your comments.

[Daisy Mae]

Are you happy with it glenn?

I haven't seen the original so can't really comment but..if you liked it enough to post it then it is good.

[stardelta]

[QUOTE=Daisy Mae;242552]Are you happy with it glenn?


Not sure sharon. I always like the pictures I take of him, but that doesn't always make it a good photograph.

here is the original image Sharon.

[Donald]

Firstly, I think your choice to convert it to a mono image was a good one. It works well.

Secondly, I feel the biggest challenge has been the direction of the light. It menas that the side of his head facing the camera is in shadow. And that means we're not really getting detail, particularly his eye. If you agree with that assessment, you could look at some gentle and unobtrusive dodging on that side of his head just to lift it slightly.

And remains a magnificent looking animal.

[stardelta]

Thankyou Donald, I agree with the comment about the dark part of his face and will try to work on that.
Thanks again for taking timeout to offer advice and to try and guide me in the right direction.

[Mike Buckley]

I also like the crop and the monochrome toning even though I wouldn't call it a sepia image.

I haven't downloaded it to examine the EXIF, but it appears that your focus point is in the grass in front of Jack. It could be that and/or that Jack moved a bit when you were using a shutter speed that is to slow to stop his action. For whatever reason, some of the grass in front of Jack is sharp though nothing about Jack is sharp.

[rpcrowe]

Glenn, I like the color version best, perhaps with a slightly closer cropping.

BTW: I always try to use fill flash when shooting dogs outdoors. Fill would brighten the shadows and lessen the contrast between the bright side of Jack and the dark side. Fill will also sometimes create catchlights in the eyes which makes the dog look more alert.

Jack is a magnificent looking guy! Is he part Rhodesian Ridgeback?

[kdoc856]

Glen,

I agree with Mike that the focus is slightly forward of Jack. When I shoot my dogs in the field, I use continuous auto-focus, which does the calculus and anticipates the focus point in the next fraction of a second. Works pretty well unless the animal slows (or accelerates), or especially if he suddenly stops. Just wondering if that might have contributed here.

I like the colour version because he has a beautiful coat, but it works well as a mono also. Would definitely go with a tighter crop about like you've done with the mono. Fill flash would certainly help, but that's a long reach in this case.

Kevin

[ggt]

glenn, I like it a lot. I might play with the levels. On PSE, I'd move the two arrows to the right abit. I don't have any clue how else to describe it. I think it might give a little more definition with out compromising anything.

Scratch some Jack Ears for me.

[stardelta]

Glenn, I like the color version best, perhaps with a slightly closer cropping.

BTW: I always try to use fill flash when shooting dogs outdoors. Fill would brighten the shadows and lessen the contrast between the bright side of Jack and the dark side. Fill will also sometimes create catchlights in the eyes which makes the dog look more alert.

Jack is a magnificent looking guy! Is he part Rhodesian Ridgeback?

Hi richard thankyou for the tip on fill flash. Can I achieve this with built in flash, I have yet to purchase a speedlite.
And yes richard you know your dogs don't you, he is ridgeback cross .

[stardelta]

Glen,

I agree with Mike that the focus is slightly forward of Jack. When I shoot my dogs in the field, I use continuous auto-focus, which does the calculus and anticipates the focus point in the next fraction of a second. Works pretty well unless the animal slows (or accelerates), or especially if he suddenly stops. Just wondering if that might have contributed here.

I like the colour version because he has a beautiful coat, but it works well as a mono also. Would definitely go with a tighter crop about like you've done with the mono. Fill flash would certainly help, but that's a long reach in this case.

Kevin

Thanks kevin, you and mike are spot on with regards to the focus, I am still very much a beginner in photography and dslr's.
i have my camera ( only a canon eos 1100d ) set on AI servo is that the best one,I thought that was continuous focus.
i was in tv mode (shutter priority ) exif data ....shutter 1/2000 oops f4.5 iso 320 108mm.
Thanks again for your comments kevin.
Regards glenn