Dog Portrait?

EscapeTurn · Jan 23, 2006

Is this worthy of the title "portrait?" The more I look at it, the more I like it. It's uncropped and unedited, just a small version of the original. I got a new flash (Nikon SB-600) over the weekend and I've thoroughly enjoyed using it. My indoor pictures (I feel) have improved ten fold because of it.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Also, at the risk of sounding cheesy, a big thanks to everyone at TPF. There is a wealth of very valuable information here and I've learned so much from this site alone.:hug:: :blushing:

Image is OTE.

Antarctican · Jan 23, 2006

Love the doggie portrait (yeah, I'd say it qualifies as a portrait, what with the backdrop and the pose).

And I love your 'loveheart' avatar

puzzle · Jan 24, 2006

Definitely a portrait, and a great one at that! Your dog has a lovely expression.
I would be interested in seeing the difference between the same shot taken with the D50's on-board flash and with the SB-600 - any chance you could show me something? I've been playing around with mine and have the on board flash turned down to -0.7 which I think I'm happier with, but I don't have a separate flash to compare with.

Arch · Jan 24, 2006

Its a perfectly good dog portrait in my opinion. One question you could ask yourself is "if someone gave me a picture like this of my pet, would i be happy with it?" The answer is probably yes. I dont own a flash gun for my D50 yet so am interested to see more flash pics. well done :thumbup:

EscapeTurn · Jan 24, 2006

Thanks for the suggestion guys! Had a small reshoot for Puzzle just to compare the difference between the two flashes. Ignore the fact that he sleeps with his eyes open!

Here's the mounted flash, pointed straight at the ceiling:

and here's the built in flash:

Here's one of my other crazy dog taken with the sb-600. I'm really enjoying this thing.

puzzle · Jan 24, 2006

Thank you! That does show the difference quite well - it looks to me as though the mounted flash gives a softer look (allmost like a pastel painting) as well as having shadows in the right places. On-board flash takes something of the depth out of the detail as well as being harsher.

Thanks again for showing, so quickly, and your dogs are beautiful :heart: