My Golden Retreiver Maggie (Looking for Critique)

[Boston®]

Camera Make: NIKON CORPORATION

Camera Model: NIKON D50

Image Date: 2006:08:20 05:14:26

Flash Used: No

Focal Length: 38.0mm (35mm equivalent: 57mm)

Exposure Time: 0.033 s (1/30)

Aperture: f/25.0

ISO equiv: 1600

White Balance: None

Metering Mode: Matrix

Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)

 

[JonnyVPA]

the exposure is nice, you couldve angled the dog for more sun.... but for your intention its a very pleasing photo..... only real distraction is the chain around his neck......

good job and props to you for getting your dog to sit still for a 30th of a second

 

[Modsiw]

How in the heck did you get a 1/30 of a dog to come out so sharp? That's awesome. I guess when you say, "Stay" the dog stays. : )

Only thing I think that would improve the picture is to darken out the background above the grass line.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

I'm going to be blunt about this. I absolutly hate this shot. Considering that since you're on an SLR, you have tons of control for your depth of field and you didnt' use it towards your advantage. (In my opinion)

When I take shots of my dog, I have to use a fast aperture if I want to freeze anything. The only good shots i have of her are with my 80-200mm f/2.8 and they are all between f/2.8-f/4.5.

Another thing i've found is that shots which show personality stand out. My dog is very curious, so her chasing a dragonfly, jumping in the grass or just being attentive are key in my exposures.

Your dog looks great looking at the golden light shining on her, and the sharp contrast against the black is fine, but I personally believe that the shot would have come out better if you had isolated her from the foregound by using a quick aperture. The grass wouldnt' look so severe, and if you had gotten closer to her face, i think we would have a winner.

The camera tilt is really what does it for me. It doesn't look intentional at all and that coupled with the tight aperture give it that unfinished snapshot look, ala' point-and-shoot.

 

[markc]

I would straighten the horizon and then crop in as either a portrait 4:5 ratio or maybe square, with the right edge just to the right of the dog's chain/left paw. The rest of the dog is lost in shadow and the background takes up too much of the image for my taste. If you wanted to include the whole dog, I'd still rotate and crop in to trim the background.

 

[JamesD]

What makes an impression on me here is the lighting. I couldn't care less about the tilt; it works just fine, and it'd be just fine if the shadow line was horizontal. If anything, the angle adds interest to the dog's expression by tipping her forward.

What I don't care for is the shadowy but still-visible background. I think that burning in this area--particularly the white post(?) and the light areas and grass to the right of it, and the whole background above her, would improve the image considerably.

I do enjoy the glow and the contrast.

 

[HughScot]

The picture is beautiful and the dog is as well. Perhaps because I am a dog lover I really liked this picture. By having the grass sharp makes it more natural and seems just right. Sure, you could get "cutesy" and blur the grass with a faster ap. but I like it just as it is. The dog is a beautiful Golden and I used to have one myself.

 

[PNA]

Good looking dog, picture so-so. You lost the green grass.

 

[abraxas]

I like the lighting and color, but think it would have worked much better as a head and shoulders shot without the tilt. Shows the wonderful ability of retreivers for undistracted concentration.

 

[Boston®]

I'm going to be blunt about this. I absolutly hate this shot. Considering that since you're on an SLR, you have tons of control for your depth of field and you didnt' use it towards your advantage. (In my opinion)

When I take shots of my dog, I have to use a fast aperture if I want to freeze anything. The only good shots i have of her are with my 80-200mm f/2.8 and they are all between f/2.8-f/4.5.

Another thing i've found is that shots which show personality stand out. My dog is very curious, so her chasing a dragonfly, jumping in the grass or just being attentive are key in my exposures.

Your dog looks great looking at the golden light shining on her, and the sharp contrast against the black is fine, but I personally believe that the shot would have come out better if you had isolated her from the foregound by using a quick aperture. The grass wouldnt' look so severe, and if you had gotten closer to her face, i think we would have a winner.

The camera tilt is really what does it for me. It doesn't look intentional at all and that coupled with the tight aperture give it that unfinished snapshot look, ala' point-and-shoot.

Thank you for posting the best critique I've read on any of my photos. Now that I see this, I think it could have been greatly improved with a smaller aperture, just the light wouldn't have been the same had I did I don't think. It was almost dark and very little light was around which was accentuated by my aperture.

the other mistake I think somebody pointed out that I see while going back is that the grass isn't as green as I'd like it. that would have been incredible to have bright, dark, lush grass in contrast with the black in the background and the redish-orange dog. I'm not exactly why that turned out the way it did though. If anything the grass should be darker at night, not lighter.