My kids

[dab_20]

Well I didn't exactly say human kids now did I?

 

[Sbuxo]

#3 has the greatest emotion! #4 has it too, so adorable!
Now onto aesthetics and technicalities...

#1: The background isn't too favorable, try and go with plain background that won't distract the eyes and take away from the subject. The photo is a bit dark, maybe dodge the whites a bit and the whites of the eyes. Also, you want those eyes to pop more. The yellow shade by the muzzle and body's far left is distracting too, try cloning it out.

#2: Same background issue. I think it could do with a hair of brightness. They eyes are like two black beads, no division between the pupil and iris, or is that how their eyes are? It doesn't bother me much, it's up to you whether you want to edit that.

#3: EPIC! I love it. Minor flaws include the cutting off of the right paw, amputating the left, shadows on the left and the background on the right. I think the dog's coat is a bit too saturated, maybe bring it down a tiny bit? But you definitely nailed the emotion and that's great when you do so with an animal (aka kid! )

#4: A bit too dark, I like the light that catches in his/her eye and I love the thoughtful look <3

 

[dab_20]

Thanks so much for all the critique. I know the background in #1 and #2 isn't favorable. I think the biggest problem I had other than the background was the lighting. They were in front of the window so I had some natural lighting but I had to have a pretty slow shutter speed and my ISO was boosted to 400.... so the first two aren't as sharp as I would've liked. And I think in #1 I missed the focus on the eyes.
Yes, on #2 she doesn't really have any division between her pupils and iris because the color is almost black. I could edit it some more in Gimp and see if I can add more brightness into it.

Thanks! #3 and #4 were my favorite, too... he was much more cooperative and still for me. I didn't realize that I cut his paws off, I will definitely watch that the next time around.

Thanks again!