How does this photo look?

[Nautifish]

This is a picture i took of our Tonka today.

What i am asking is. IS the quality and DOF Better on this photo than my previous photo's?

I have been at this for allmost a month now and i like to think i am making at least a little bit of AN improvement...lol....



Nikon D5000
Lens: VR 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G
Focal Length: 36mm
Focus Mode: AF-S
Aperture: F/11
Shutter Speed: 1/750s
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
ISO Sensitivity: Auto (ISO 1600)
White Balance: Cloudy, 0, 0


Thank you.

 

[Scatterbrained]

Too much DOF for me personally. Otherwise it is technically fine from what I can tell. Does your dog miss his ears?

 

[tirediron]

I think the quality (by which I mean exposure, WB, etc) is fine. The focus on the eyes is good, but it looks like it might be getting a little soft around the top of his nose. When you're shooting like this, are you using DoF tables and basing your focus point on that, or just 'shooting from the hip'?

 

[iAstonish]

You probably could have went with a lower ISO if you were shooting at that high of a shutter speed.

 

[KmH]

Get down to his level. (Do the same with kids)

Better yet is to get somewhat lower than his level, because that puts the background further away from your subject, while making him seem bigger and more regal. It also gives your photo a perspective that is more interesting.

You needed to use f/11 at 36 mm, and the distance you were from him to get enough DOF to have a chance of having both his nose and his eyes in focus. Basically, 36 mm wasn't enough focal length with the background being so close to him..

You control DOF using 4 factors:

1. lens focal length
2. lens aperture
3. subject to image sensor distance
4. subject to background distance

You can use an online DOF calculator to gain a better understanding of how the 4 DOF controlling factore relate to each other:
Online Depth of Field Calculator

 

[Nautifish]

Thank you so much for that KMH.