Great Dane photo C&C

BigMcLargeHuge · May 27, 2009

I took this picture of my mom's great dane on memorial day. Does it look ok? I hate having the fence in the background but I couldn't get around that. I did crop this.
Here are the camera settings:
Camera set on sunlight mode, no flash. RAW + JPEG.
Exposure = 1/80 sec.
ISO = 100
Focal length = 30mm
Max aperture = 4.64

Samanax · May 27, 2009

1/80 shutter speed in bright daylight? What kind of camera were you using and what shooting mode were you using? And what aperture setting were you using?

You may want to try and fill the frame with the dog a little more next time. Right now it just looks like a snapshot. And be aware of the light and where it's coming from. Shooting in direct sunlight can be tricky...there are spots on the dog that are blown out (chest area and the back paws).

Shooting with the flash in daylight will actually help even out the lighting on the dog, especially on the face.

bigtwinky · May 27, 2009

I had the same thought as Samanax... that is a very slow shutter speed for bright daylight.

The picture comes off as more of a snapshot than a photograph. One of the eyes is very black, there are some hotspots as well.

Maybe wait until he is chewing on that toy in the shade and get up close to fill the frame more with his face. Or get down low with a wide angle to get a giant perspective. I find that he is very centered in the picture with not much else going on.

BigMcLargeHuge · May 27, 2009

I'll have to be more aware about the shutter speed. I didn't mess with that myself, all I did was go in the menu and set the white balance to sunny. I agree about the blown out spots. I wonder if I could tone them down by editing the RAW file?
The original picture was a bit wider but I purposely cropped that stuff out because I thought that the dog was my focal point, nothing else. I don't know.