The Dog Trainer--Run and Gun

[D-B-J]

Instead of photographing the sunset like planned, I had just enough time to setup and take a few frames of my mother and the pups. 5 minutes for setup, 5-10 minutes for shooting, and that was it. Thankfully I knew how I was going to shoot and what I needed to do to make it happen. Really, I had such little time, and I'm pleased with the results. There's a few nitpicks I have, but instead of creating bias I'll let a few of you respond and give feedback before I point out what I like/don't like.


Nikon D800
Nikon 85mm 1.8G
Nikon SB700
Nikon SB600
Pocketwizards
Both flashes in a 46" brolly camera right

The Dog Trainer by f_one_eight, on Flickr



Edit:

I got the idea to combine two different photo's from last evening-the one where my mother looks the best, and the one where the pups look the best. Combined in PS CS5, touched up in Portrait Professional, and then a quick final edit made in Lightroom 5.

Dog Trainer | Re-Edit by f_one_eight, on Flickr


Comments and Critiques please!
Jake

 

[RockstarPhotography]

my eyes are searching for a focal point. Red glow on hair a bit distracting. Overall Its a good shot.

 

[D-B-J]

my eyes are searching for a focal point. Red glow on hair a bit distracting. Overall Its a good shot.

Hmm, I liked the red glow as a rim light,.. But agree it's not the best rim..

But thanks for your input!

Jake


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[tirediron]

See... this image PROVES why bacon is so important to photography. If you'd had bacon in your pocket, the pooches would have been looking at you making this image that much stronger.

 

[sscarmack]

f7.1 and the dogs are still a little soft? Dang

Thats my only gripe, besides them not looking. Which I usually give a little whistle right before I take the photo and 9/10 times they look at me.

 

[D-B-J]

f7.1 and the dogs are still a little soft? Dang

Thats my only gripe, besides them not looking. Which I usually give a little whistle right before I take the photo and 9/10 times they look at me.

Yeah, I'm upset that 7.1 wasn't enough. And with them not looking... My mother insisted that the one of them looking wasn't the best because she had a goofy smile. Trying to get all three to cooperate and work together in such a short time was tough. I was thinking about trying to composite them together. I'll give that a shot and see how it works out. Thanks for your input! I'll keep at it.


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[juicegoose]

Nice shot. Personally i would have bumped up the ambient a bit so the flash wasn't so prominent. Thats all personal taste though.

 

[D-B-J]

Nice shot. Personally i would have bumped up the ambient a bit so the flash wasn't so prominent. Thats all personal taste though.

Yeah, it's definitely not a style for everyone. I like the contrast--makes the subject pop more.

Jake


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[rexbobcat]

Nice shot. Personally i would have bumped up the ambient a bit so the flash wasn't so prominent. Thats all personal taste though.

I agree with this. The background is so dark that, for me, it becomes more of a distraction than an element that adds interest. Partly because the foliage and ground right behind her have become formless black blobs.

Some of that can't be helped, however, when the sun is beginning to sink low.

 

[D-B-J]

See... this image PROVES why bacon is so important to photography. If you'd had bacon in your pocket, the pooches would have been looking at you making this image that much stronger.

f7.1 and the dogs are still a little soft? Dang

Thats my only gripe, besides them not looking. Which I usually give a little whistle right before I take the photo and 9/10 times they look at me.

So I added the updated image to the original post--I combined the two photo's in PS... can you tell? I think it's a pretty seamless combination. Not much I can do about Bowen's eyes being oof... which sucks. OR the black lower background part. Definitely not perfect, but given the conditions I'm pretty pleased with the now-final result. What are your thoughts?

Jake

 

[sscarmack]

MUCH better!!!

 

[D-B-J]

MUCH better!!!

Thanks man! I think so as well.. too bad about the oof dog eyes though..

 

[D-B-J]

Bump on the edit


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[LCLimages]

I like your composite shot. But the whole thing seems under exposed. To me, maybe it's personal taste.

 

[RockstarPhotography]

I'm still not digging the orange hair highlight. To me it makes no sense, the light from the sunset would not be strong enough to cause that much of a orange highlight (inverse square law), I think if you just toned it down a bit in editing it would blend much better.