Would someone have me as a pet ?

[jcharris]

I also tried a portrait with our dog .
i would like to hear your critique .
Even if your critique is harsh , please go for it ( don't hold back )
I am using every critique i can get to try and better my technique of photography .

Thanks
james

[jar_e]

Interesting shot here James. Nice composition and nice crop. The only thing that's distracting me from this pic is the grided brick background. The pattern of bricks and the grey lines can be quite distracting in a background. With that being said, your taking a picture of a live, moving animal, and getting a good shot can be difficult. It's a great shot you had under the circumstances,

Jared

[gahspidy]

Not bad James. I like the frame up and the fact that I can see both eyes at this angle, and the sharpness is fine. I think to improve , first off, if doing a closup portrait type like this you should move the subject further from the bg. This way the bricks would be more out of focus and make a less distracting bg. Also, I think you should hav got down a little lower to at least be eye level or closer to it than the normal view of looking down at the dog. A good looking dog, I'd have it for a pet.

[bobbythebandit]

Yes the "grid" in the background is distracting, could be sorted in ps.
bobby

[jcharris]

Hi Jared

Thank you for you time and comments.
I have taken note of the distracting background. One thing i am guilty off is not to prepare enough before taking these kind of shots. That is the other thing i will get myself to concentrate on is preparing a shoot before the time.
Thanks again for your time and giving your comments.

Hi Gary

Glad you would have like him for a pet
He has a sister as well and you won't believe how they love our children , and us .
One of my goals was to get both eyes into the photo . But like you have mentioned , to get him a bit further away from the wall to achieve that shallower dof.
That is a nice idea to get a bit lower as well .

I have a lot of ideas to go practise on now

Regards
james

Bobby ,

Thanks also for your contribution , now that i know most of my shortcomings i can give it a serious shoot again.

regards
james

[drg]

Just saw this one (haven't logged on for a couple days) and I'm jealous of the dog. I've had rotties around for a long time and they are wonderful. Now I'll have to find some Rottweiler pics too post! (Only have a bunch)

People who haven't photographed black dogs don't realize that it is harder than it seems to capture their markings (you've done fine)! That whole over/under exposure deal and modern cameras make is sooo much simpler. Does he have a good "bow tie"?

Yes, he could stay at my place any time! I'm a little far away, but hey . .

The bricks gotta go. You could erase them or blur them or something, the color is good so you might just swirl or blur or some f/x them away. There some shadow coming off the muzzle that doesn't add anything. Raise the flash higher (if you can) or if it is built in flash look for ways to orient the camera so the flash shadow falls behind the subject or on something that doesn't highlight it.

Treats work real well to get their attention.

Keep them doggie pics coming (and more too!)

Thanks - CDP

[paulnj]

You live in south africa, YOU need a BOERBOEL

OK, on to my suggestions

I would suggest a portrait of him/her AT eye level or lower ..... with a BG farther away or less intrusive

Being a big dog fan , I think wide angle from a lower stance makes them look BIGGER ;)

[jcharris]

hi Paulnj,

Thank you for your suggestions , i am going to reshoot trying out all the suggestions i got for this thread , and will post the results again.
We had a boerboel , but he unfortunatly died of tickfever .He was also a very big dog .
We need big dogs here to protect ourselves and our property !


Regards
james

[paulnj]

You do know that we are the only 2 people who knew what a boerboel was ;) They are actually nearly inpossible to get in the US, but I may import one ($1500US plus shipping costs) some day. I only want 130+ pound dogs for similiar reason as you(no lions to ward off here though)