My dog, and my first picture post here! MEEP!

chiefschic · Jan 24, 2013

This is my dog Baxter! He is a 4 y/o black lab/pit bull mix and one of my greatest loves. This poor guy gets photographed more than any other member of my family, (sorry kids!) and I don't think he minds.

Anyway, thought I would share a couple pictures since I haven't posted here yet. I'm a newbie to the DSLR world, so be nice! :blushing:

Scuba · Jan 24, 2013

These are nice snapshots of your dog but neither is a well thought out photograph with meaning behind it.

paigew · Jan 24, 2013

I really like the first. Nice lighting. Cute expression + eye contact. It would have been stronger in portrait orientation so we could see his front paws.

MiFleur · Jan 24, 2013

You have a very nice dog, I don't care too much for the first shot, the angle of view is too high, if you get lower maybe the perspective will be a little bit better, it is also overexposed on the chest. I like the expression of the eyes though!
the second shot, although too dark, is more in focus, but you need to use exposure compensation to lighten the snow. Right now it looks too grayish, and the dog's eyes are hard to see. I love the composition of the shot, and the alertness of your dog, you captured a nice moment.

chiefschic · Jan 24, 2013

Scuba said:
These are nice snapshots of your dog but neither is a well thought out photograph with meaning behind it.

Well I have to disagree. You obviously weren't there when these were taken so you wouldn't know the "meaning" behind them, like I do. The first one, he was begging to go for a ride in the car with me and when I told him he had to "stay", that was the face he gave me. A very disappointed, child-like expression. The "meaning" behind the second one, is his complete and utter excitement for the first snow of the year.

Thank you to the others who actually gave constructive criticism. It's much appreciated and gives me an idea of what I can do to make my next photos better.

snowbear · Jan 24, 2013

I think the first is cute; I like his expression.

edit: deleted C&C since this is in "Just for fun."

chiefschic · Jan 24, 2013

snowbear said:
I think the first is cute; I like his expression.

edit: deleted C&C since this is in "Just for fun."

I actually don't mind C&C!

snowbear · Jan 24, 2013

OK.

#1: There are a couple of things is the background are distracting - mainly the dark object at top-left. I think had you gone with portrait mode,as paigew mentioned, it would have eliminated them.

#2: The black dog/white snow is takes a bit more thought to pull off. A stop or two overexposure would have gotten the snow white (instead of grey) and given some detail in the dog (like his eyes) that I don't see here.

chiefschic · Jan 24, 2013

Yes, I see what you mean with #1. It's a flip flop. Hah! I like the idea of going with portrait, I just didn't want to lose the shot, ya know? Definitely a thought for next time. For #2, I took these photos in sports mode so this was just one of a series of 9 or 10. I still need to work with my settings on the camera to figure out how to make better snow pictures because it's one of his favorite things to do! Thanks again for the C&C!!

Scuba · Jan 25, 2013

chiefschic said:
Scuba said:

These are nice snapshots of your dog but neither is a well thought out photograph with meaning behind it.

Click to expand...

Well I have to disagree. You obviously weren't there when these were taken so you wouldn't know the "meaning" behind them, like I do. The first one, he was begging to go for a ride in the car with me and when I told him he had to "stay", that was the face he gave me. A very disappointed, child-like expression. The "meaning" behind the second one, is his complete and utter excitement for the first snow of the year.

Thank you to the others who actually gave constructive criticism. It's much appreciated and gives me an idea of what I can do to make my next photos better.

Sorry, I know my first post was a little harsh, however I was being honest. I should have explained more and checked the category. Yes you know the story behind the image but part of what makes a photograph different from a snapshot is planning and thought on how to portray that story. Also, the first image screams snapshot because of the angle it was taken at and the sandal in the image. There is no thought about the background and while the lighting is fairly good I don't think it was part of your thought process. The second the lighting is again the biggest issue. Your dogs face is very dark and underexposed and the snow is grayish Again you know the story here, but you need to take a step back and think if the image tells the story all by itself.