One of my first female model shoots :)

[Senor Hound]

Okay, so she's a little furry, but she's cute.

The main reason I posted this is because I did some PP to it (My FIRST post-processed photo for something other than cropping!) I wanted to see if anyone could tell what I did, and why. If so, maybe you could give me some tips on how to do better (it took me an hour as is...lol!)

Also, I know the background is cluttered, but this is a totally candid shot. I would still like to know how the composition is, so the next time my pup seems mesmerized by my camera, I can take an even better shot.

 

[AndrewG]

The eyes are great; try cropping really severely to lose all the clutter.
Cute doggie

 

[JimmyO]

Alright, i cant tell what you did. It would be much easier if i could see the original, lol. Im guessing you sharpened it and maybe some other color adjustments.

So anyways i did some quick work (5 min.) What i did was copy a section of carpet from the left of the "model" and pasted a bunch of that sample and moved them to cover all the clutter. Then i sharpened and cropped Then i boosted the saturation and then brightened it and added some contrast. BTW i did it all in gimp (free)

 

[HoboSyke]

I dont like Jimmy0's edit... Crop is ok and removal of the power cords, but the colour adjustments are not good.

 

[JimmyO]

Haha, ia actually agree. PP is not my thing (at all). And like I said, 5 minutes tops. I just wanted to show what kinda things you can do. I really dont know how to do much more than that, especailly when it comes to color and such =X

 

[Senor Hound]

WOW, that was really cool! I had NO IDEA you could do that with Photoshop. What I did is found out what the magic wand was (I'd seen someone else use it before), selected her green (flash) eyes, shifted the color to red, lowered the saturation and then the brightness. But the fact that someone couldn't tell lets me know its SOMEWHAT believable!

I am going to use the new version as my background. I was so bummed that the photo came out so great with such a crummy background. But now that I know its possible to alter that (I didn't), I can breathe easily when this situation comes around again!

Once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the help! You restore my faith in what I may someday be able to do!

 

[HoboSyke]

If you want to get better shots of her, take her outside and sit back and shoot away, I got this one of my cat chillin on my balcony, lol.....

 

[JimmyO]

Haha, im glad you like. Its amazing how much stuff in photoshop most people even know exist, its just such and advanced program.

If you wanna see a funny video search "You suck at photoshop" on youtube. The guy that does this series is down right hilarious. He actually has a video where he does something similar. What he does is take out his fiance's cat out of a picture and make it look like its in a trash bag and there pee all over the carpet, lol.

Also, it was easy for me to cover up the clutter becuase the carpet didnt have any uniformidy, so i could just past my sample where ever and you really could notice a difference in the texture of the carpet.

 

[kellylindseyphotography]

Ya, the flash indoors- not good. The angle- not good. The comp is ok, but typical snapshot.

Go outside and definitly shoot without flash. WAtch for whats in the background and get down to his level.

 

[Alex_B]

it is a bit underexposed i guess (cannot judge 100% with my laptop at work though)

 

[LaFoto]

It looks underexposed to me, too.
Her one paw is "clipped off". The clutter in the background CANNOT be disregarded if we are to give you an honest critique, it is there and it is HUGELY distracting. I personally don't like the chosen point of view (POV), looking at a child or animal from above gives a feeling of superiority of adult or human over the child or animal. Pop-up flash never looks good. Never.

So yes, for next shoots of your dog, take her outside, flop yourself flat onto your belly and shoot from there. Watch the backgrounds, make it as neutral and as undistracting as possible (only lawn, only bushes, only wall of house for example), and try to have your camera give you a bit of a bokeh (wide open aperture). Focus on the dogs eyes (well done here! But then focus is almost everywhere, anyway, also, lamentably, on the clutter).

 

[Senor Hound]

Thank you. I really know the photo isn't all that well. The clipped paw drives me nuts, and the white balance is way off. And I don't know how to fix a JPEGs white balance, cause my camera doesn't shoot raw (its a point and shoot.

As far as the angle, I did do that on purpose. This dog is usually so rambunctious and energetic, that to see her with those doe eyes and looking all submissive was worth taking a photo of. I really only posted it to see if anyone could tell what I photoshopped, but I really appreciate all of the feedback, I know I can use it!

And I try to take outside shots, but EVERYTIME I kneel down, she runs up to me and licks my face. She doesn't know how to stay very well (she's too affectionate, I guess). I'll have to get creative...

 

[manaheim]

I like Jimmy's crop.

Is it just me or does the color seem a little off? Looks like the whole thing is cast in brown or something... that doesn't make as much sense if he used a flash though. Dunno.

 

[Alfred D.]

The main reason I posted this is because I did some PP to it (My FIRST post-processed photo for something other than cropping!) I wanted to see if anyone could tell what I did, and why. If so, maybe you could give me some tips on how to do better (it took me an hour as is...lol!)

I agree with the other posters: it's as if you applied a tobacco filter. In any case, the shot is underexposed, imo. This what it could also look like:

Also, I know the background is cluttered, but this is a totally candid shot. I would still like to know how the composition is, so the next time my pup seems mesmerized by my camera, I can take an even better shot.

From this viewpoint – top-down – you get some perspective distortion effects. Look at the size of her paws in relation to the size of her head.
A rule of thumb when shooting kids and animals is: get the lens down to their eye level! Bend your knees if you must.

 

[manaheim]

^^ definitely better.