editing vs settings

[DrHarmony]

Hi all.
Noticed my dog waiting for me after work the other day, and got a shot of her from behind a bush before she noticed me.
If I had time and experience to set up my camera with this photo, I would have attempted to single her out using settings in my camera. (focal point, Bigger aperture...I think)
I do not have experience in this yet, so I added a blur type effect to the image after.
Is it noticeable that I used software by looking at this, or could I achieve this same effect with camera settings?
I thought that I needed to single her out more from the original as there was a lot of fence and sidewalk in this.

 

[tirediron]

It's apparent to anyone who's experienced in post-processing and is looking for it, that the blur was added in the computer, but given the circumstances, there's not much else you could have done, and I really don't think it matters much. It does help to isolate Rover from the rest of the scene, and it's not strong enough to be bothersome.

 

[Tailgunner]

it's not strong enough to be bothersome.

Agreed, it's not real over powering.

Over all, I think it looks good.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[The_Traveler]

This isn't successful with me for several reasons.
The light is pretty harsh
The fence and the concrete are bright and pull my eyes from what I know is the center of interest, the dog.
The dog is sort of a hodge podge of shapes and colors - the paws and ears aren't distinct or in focus.
The dog's eyes aren't clear and so there's no contact with him/her.

Sorry

 

[DrHarmony]

I am not familiar with hodge podge, but I think i understand what you are saying with light being harsh.
There is no blur now and instead I tried cropping a bit more.
I attempted to lighten her face to see her ears a bit more, while darkening the glare off the fence and concrete.

 

[CowgirlMama]

That's a good start, but I think you went just a little overboard on adjusting the lighting. The cement turned a funky yellow/green.

Here's an attempt at it... Brightened the dog just a bit and brought down the brightness on the rest.