Pet Pictures - would appreciate some feedback!

Amyranth · Jan 4, 2014

Hello all,

I was wondering if I could get some general feedback on my pictures, I would really like to improve!

Some information: I've not been shooting for very long, first held a DSLR in December 2011 and got hooked ever since. Shot a lot in 2012, not so much in 2013 since I moved from the Netherlands to the USA, and immigration brings a lot of hassle along with it! My husband owns a D800 but barely ever uses it, so I do

I feel very lucky to be working with such a good camera while still so inexperienced. I used to shoot a lot of macro's with my Rebel T3i - But right now I'd like some feedback on these pictures, since I'm sure there is room for improvement! The cats are my own, the little chihuahua is from my neighbors, they let me practice on her sometimes

Most of these are shot with a 50mm 1.8
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

tirediron · Jan 4, 2014

Welcome to TPF! In future, it will help C&C if you post your images vertically, and number them. In general, these are not bad at all. A few general thoughts: Consider the location; on the floor of the livingroom with typical family furniture in the background is less than ideal, as is the driveway, and avoid cropping bits off, such as the hindquarters in the second one. Like human portraiture, concentrate on the face, and especially the eyes.

Amyranth · Jan 4, 2014

tirediron said:
Welcome to TPF! In future, it will help C&C if you post your images vertically, and number them. In general, these are not bad at all. A few general thoughts: Consider the location; on the floor of the livingroom with typical family furniture in the background is less than ideal, as is the driveway, and avoid cropping bits off, such as the hindquarters in the second one. Like human portraiture, concentrate on the face, and especially the eyes.

Thank you very much! I just numbered them and put them up vertically, that should help.

and yes, location is a real issue here. Tiny apartment. I'll work on the hindquarters thing, hadn't even noticed that! thanks!

Designer · Jan 4, 2014

Welcome! I like them!

Amyranth · Jan 4, 2014

Thank you Designer!

Here is my welcome thread, if anyone is interested. My macro shots are on display in there too.
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/welcomes-introductions/348634-new-forums.html#post3129385

Amyranth · Jan 5, 2014

No more feedback?

Derrel · Jan 5, 2014

Not too bad. It's nice to have the catchlights in the eyes of the cats--it adds sparkle and visual interest. I like photos 3,6, and 7 the most, since those seem to have the most "complete" feeling to them. Casual pet portraits like these are difficult to get just right...there's often some "thing" in the background, spoiling the overall effect. I like cats, and enjoy photos of them. I think the simpler the picture, the better for cats, most of the time. These DO have lovely color and clarity, and the light is generally pretty good, appealing light, not dark and obscuring.

vintagesnaps · Jan 5, 2014

I think the quality of the photos overall is really nice, I would think about your backgrounds. Even if you're indoors, well cats don't exactly pose... but when you're composing a shot notice how everything looks in your viewfinder; if you can't move the subject try moving yourself. In tight spots when I can't move around much I scrunch down or lean to help change my vantage point. Or if it doesn't look good I may not take the picture and try something else another time.

The ones of the dogs outdoors have backgrounds that work better, you just need to include the entire animal or think about how you're framing the shot and where you'd be cropping them off. I think the one of the Siamese would be nice with the patterned carpet, but the bluish cushion seems to be a distraction more than it adds to the composition. I love the cat on the windowsill. I think it's well framed, and has nice balance to the composition the way the window is part of the background and seems to partly frame the cat. I think that's a lovely photo.

Amyranth · Jan 5, 2014

yay! Feedback!

Thank you so much, that's what I was looking for.

Lets see.. The catchlights; definitely a point that I've noticed too; I have some shots that could have been great, but because the catch lights are (almost) non existing they don't look good.
for example Pic #2 - one of the eyes has a tiny catchlight, but afterwards I discovered I would've liked it more if it had more 'life' in it. Oh well, learning experiences hmn

Backgrounds - yes my biggest issue. I live in a 700sqft apartment with orange-laminate floors, which I think are not suitable for most pictures - I have no floor surfaces that would actually look good with the cats - that leaves the bed and the duvet cover - and that's not always desirable. And then I'm not even talking about walls (ugly off-white/yellow-ish color) and the doors and other clutter. argh I get frustrated just talking about it! I know I will have to get creative, but in a small apartment with terrible lightning and even worse backdrops everywhere ... it does get challenging. Do you guys have any ideas how to help with that? And then I didn't even factor in the fact that these are animals and won't just 'pose' - you actually have to be lucky and/or patient enough to get the shot....

Also Vintagesnaps, thanks for the composition comment - I got a similar remark earlier today and I didn't even notice that I did it until it was mentioned - will definitely keep watch more of fitting the whole animal into the frame.

Thank you guys so much, really appreciate the feedback, my aim is to get better at what I do.