I'm trying

[mysteryscribe]

Excellent points both.

And Im not any great whiz at composition, please feel free to jump in and correct me any time you want. Composition is always subjective.

I think they are much, much better but keep shooting and hold your balancing scale to them. Ask yourself if I hung this on the wall and stepped back would it look balanced to me. I always went with the five to ten feet back look even figuratively. How does the shot look overall as a picture hanging. Don't get caught up in any one part of it but see it all at the same time.

And three is filled with emotion only blind love can have. God why cant women love like that lol. However the eyes are position too close to the center of the page they need to be higher. that pesky rule of thirds is there also it is not in balance. Next time you shoot one, shoot it thinking that you have to have it higher in the frame. It is good to crop in the camera but dont get so tight that you cant crop for composition in the computer.

I would guess that you are not turning your camera for verticle shots. That is the very, very best way to crop for verticle. Realize which shots need to be verticle before you shoot them. Then just rotate the camera. It is not workable for bounce flash, but it is for natural light. It is the best way to teach yourself.

 

[mysteryscribe]

I would think you would want this kind of image balance so that he is possitioned right in the shot. The secret is where his eyes fall in the frame. Your dog has huge ears by the way.

forgive the lousy clone but it was just to show you that you need to shoot more of him because of those ears.

Just keep on shooting you pretty much have an feel for it now.

 

[song2006]

lafoto, thanks for the suggestions. yes lighting is challenging when a dog has black. i have actually heard that an all black dog is the hardest to take pictures of because if the lighting isnt just right you cant see the details of the coat.

i also agree that the things in the background need to go and during my shooting session with forrest yesterday as i hope to show you soon i was making an attempt to not have such distractions around him. i know now that would make the shot look much better. but my home is my backdrop and im really not staging shots. i feel i get the best expressions when he is in a relaxed state, rather than me commanding him into a pose. but points are well taken.

mysteryscribe thanks again for you helpful advise and suggestions. i feel the shots are better but i know i still have a way to go to really get to where i want to be. so far i see a small difference in a good way, so small steps is a-okay with me! better small then none at all.

And three is filled with emotion only blind love can have. God why cant women love like that

i would say some will, but not all.

i agree that i was not doing any vertical shots but i do have some from yesterday i hope to work on soon and hopefully those will make a difference. with the size of forrests ears you can see that they take up a good amount of space on top of the photo that when i crop the eyes lend up in the center of the pic. with the picture you added the mat frame around it gives it better balance even thought thats not part of the actual picture. so i clearly see what you mean.

thanks for the secrets/tips and i will keep shooting. :thumbup:

i have been snapping shots as much as i can the last 2 days, i think im gonna make my family nuts. but i want to put what i learned into my shots so its there [in my mind] for good. maybe someday soon i will show you shots other than forrest.

thanks all and feel free to continue to comment.

 

[song2006]

i went through the rest of yesterdays pics and i found that i am taking the shots too close so with forrests ears i find his eyes are coming more to the center of the picture, so my next run i will try and be a bit further away from him and see if that improves my shots. aside from having trouble balancing the shot the only thing i can see wrong with these 3 im gonna show you is the shadows behind his ears, so my lighting issue inside is going to be challenging.

have a look and tell me what you think?

1. this is the orginal shot[resized for easier viewing]

2. this is my edit, yes i cropped the ears but i think it looks good... what do you think?

3. im pretty happy with this one. but i can see that his eys are still a bit too much in the middle of the picture.

4. and this one i think is funny with his tongue hanging out... pretty much the same as #3

thanks for viewing!

any feedback?

 

[mysteryscribe]

three and four are almost dead bang on. you are still leaving a little blank space on one side. I think that was the old shots, I expect you will notice where the dog is in reationship to the side of the frame next time and he wont be out of balance.

Much better though. You are getting there just keep shooting and the family will tolerate you. Trust me, mine did for a lot of years now.

One of the things here everybody is about, except me, is that the backgrounds not be over exposed. Frankly I expose for faces and let the devil take care of the background. Give that a try with Forest. Expose for the black spot on his muzzle, if you can.

I do not know which camera you have but if you can here is a good way to do that.

zoom in tight on his muzzle take a reading. Either lock it in, or set it up manually, Then zoom out and make the shot. Don't worry too much about how it looks on the screen, When you get it back you can tinker with it, but you want to be able to show his nostrils and teeth. If you take one you have and begin running the gamma up till you can just see those things you will note the background going all to heck. You might just need to choose which you want, or maybe you can tinker with the levels. Or add more light, but if you can't add more light expose for the darkest part that you want to have details in.

Probably not the accepted method, but give it a try and see what you get. For now just kick up your gamma and see what it looks like.

 

[mysteryscribe]

I expect there to be a ton of disagreement on this, and that's a good thing. If I were shooting your dog as a portrait for a typical owner, I would do something like this. Now my monitor isn't balanced so take that into consideration.

Of course i would most likely spend a little more time on it/

 

[song2006]

hi mysteryscribe
youve been such a great help, thanks!

heres the thing, when i try and get the new things into my shots it all runs wild [alot to fix]. i do think if i take a few steps back when taking the pics that will help... getting forrest balanced is somewhat of a challenge with the pics i have taken this far, as they dont give me much to work with because they are so tight. hopefully it works better for me next time, those darn ears!!

i really dont have much camera knowledge that is a big pitfall for me. i gotta open the book and figure out how to play with the manual settings, cause i have no idea.

do you think these shots are underexposed? i do brighten them up some when i edit them because the camera makes them look a little dull. unless my pc screen settings is giving me that look?? but they look bright to me and i can clearly see his muzzle and nose in these recent shots. but now im wondering... its hard to know what others see when its not a print handed to the person.

im using a kodak easyshare, not the best camera but for my lack of knowledge its a start.

thanks again and i will try to read up on my camera this week.:blushing:

 

[song2006]

that does seem a bit whiting bright to me. it kinda loses a bit of its richness though, dont you think?

 

[mysteryscribe]

thats is usually the downside to showing an animals features, you burn out his richness. somewhere in between you will find what looks good to YOU and thats what you really want. Most other people will never see what you see in the shots so shoot for yourself but make the informed choice.

Not sure I really helped any but I'm more than happy to try, and don't tell anyone. Right now I have a great rep as a mean old man lol. Don't want to spoil the image.

 

[song2006]

thats is usually the downside to showing an animals features, you burn out his richness.

ale: ... i will try not to make it too dark. but that is the way things appeal to me. dont get me wrong i enjoy things that are bright and cheery but with color i tend to find warm and dark tones more appealing to me.

somewhere in between you will find what looks good to YOU and thats what you really want.

yes! very well said... i have to be happy with what i do to and with my shots most importantly and not worry so much about what others think. but appealing to others does have its perks. but i got the message. :thumbsup:

Most other people will never see what you see in the shots so shoot for yourself but make the informed choice.

yes! also well said and i hear ya.

Not sure I really helped any but I'm more than happy to try, and don't tell anyone. Right now I have a great rep as a mean old man lol. Don't want to spoil the image.

YOU have helped a lot! and your honesty has also been very helpful! thank you!
and ill be real quiet about it so it doesnt get around here.