What's your opinion ?

[Aussie Dave]

Looking for opinions on this photo.
Do you think it works ?


I have cropped the dog (Bailey) out of the original and added a green fill behind, as there was a very ugly fence in the background.

Comments (good and or bad) appreciated....

[jethro]

sharp as shit good pic animal shots can be good and bad this is very good .

[sheepie]

It's just coming out of the frame straight for me

..perhaps I've had too much Scotch tonight


I would try a slightly looser crop around the top though - the border is a little too close there

[W00DY]

I like the way the dog is coming out of the frame I am just not sure on the background colour...

Maybe try a softer shade of green or maybe less fluro.

W00DY

[Aussie Dave]

It's just coming out of the frame straight for me

..perhaps I've had too much Scotch tonight


I would try a slightly looser crop around the top though - the border is a little too close there

I was actually going to do to the left ear and top of the head, what I did with the right ear (so it appeared the head was bounding out of the frame).....but I got too tired so I stopped where I did.

[sirhc55]

Dave - your use of the pop out of the ear has taken this from just an ordinary pic to one that you look at twice - very nicely done

[sheepie]

I was actually going to do to the left ear and top of the head, what I did with the right ear...

I think that would have been overkill - the effect you have here is nice

[Andyt]

Outstanding!

I have the same problem with cat / dog shots, they move all the time and your choice of background is what they give you. Like you I usually Gaussian blur or alter the ugly fence / brick wall background when getting a "keeper".

However, I now have a newstyle of frame to play with in these situations, love the frame effect.........works for me!!!

Andyt

[PiroStitch]

See if you can dim the green down a bit or use a darker green. I'm looking at the green too much But it's a different and interesting way of displaying the photo

[big pix]

I like what you have done .......... turned a good pix into something that is much more interesting and pleasing to the eye, but the bright green background is a little overpowering and tends to take over the image. The dog is the photo not the background

cheers

Big Pix

[Aussie Dave]

thanks everyone. I appreciate your comments and agree on the green. What was I thinking.....I did say I was tired

It's amazing that sometimes when you look at a photo that isn't quite there, you can change it in a way that makes it more appealing.

For anyone interested, I took this with my Sigma 70-300 APO II @ 70mm 1/320sec. f4.0 using the D70 flash on a sunny day (as a bit of fill flash).

I think my main critisism about the photo, which no-one else mentioned, is that the dog's face is nicely in sharp focus, but the f-stop was too small and the body is badly out of focus. This was the main reason I decided to flop the ear out of the frame, to bring more emphasis onto the head (which is is good focus) and away from the body. Unfortunately, I botched up the background and made everyone look at it, rather than the dog.

Still, a worthy experiment. Thanks again for all your replies. If anyone has any further comments/opinions, I'd like to hear them

[redline]

nice work with the ear popout
but the left side is a bit too sharp in your selection for your dog, need to blur the dogs edges a bit.

[sheepie]

There is nothing wrong with the DOF in this instance, especially with the way you framed it. The fact that the body is out of focus exagerates the impression that the head is coming out of the frame - a very nice effect. Well done

Most importantly, the eyes are in good focus

Look forward to some details on your PS technique

[Aussie Dave]

There is nothing wrong with the DOF in this instance, especially with the way you framed it. The fact that the body is out of focus exagerates the impression that the head is coming out of the frame - a very nice effect. Well done

Most importantly, the eyes are in good focus

Look forward to some details on your PS technique

Thanks Sheepie. It works in this instance but the original photo (I felt) looked funny with the head in focus and the body just out....but it does enhance the look of my posted pic.

My PP (let me try and remember....):
Using PSCS, I first selected the brush, chose white and traced around the edge of the dog (zoomed in, of course). Then I used the magnetic lasso tool and went around the dog. Cut&Paste into new image for transparent b/ground, then added a layer, dropped the green fill in, went around the edges of the dog with the blur tool, then copied the right ear. I then slightly adjusted levels, shadow/highlights and a bit of USM, to taste.
After this I framed the photo, pasted the copy of the ear back on, moved into place and used the burn tool to add a slight shadow on the matte (mimicking the shadow of the ear on the white matte). Added my signature and all finished....

[Manta]

Hi Dave.

I like the shot but, like others before me, find the background a bit too much. I'd try a rich deep burgundy or similar dark colour that didn't draw the eye quite as much. No need for me to add anything there...

The crop has already been mentioned so I won't elaborate on that..

DOF is fine for me, I don't see any problem there.

Ear flopping out of the frame is great and very nicely done. How about extending the shadow of the ear further out onto matt?

I know I haven't offered anything here that's different or educational at all but I did like the shot. It's a great pose and beautifully sharp.

[Aussie Dave]

Hi Dave.

I like the shot but, like others before me, find the background a bit too much. I'd try a rich deep burgundy or similar dark colour that didn't draw the eye quite as much. No need for me to add anything there...

The crop has already been mentioned so I won't elaborate on that..

DOF is fine for me, I don't see any problem there.

Ear flopping out of the frame is great and very nicely done. How about extending the shadow of the ear further out onto matt?

I know I haven't offered anything here that's different or educational at all but I did like the shot. It's a great pose and beautifully sharp.

Cheers Simon. Thanks for your reply !

When I'm not so tired, I might try redoing the shot again, remembering to change that "lovely green background" and may post it again for all to see

[Alex]

Dave,

Very nice. I like that the eyes are came out very sharp!! I don't mind the background, btw.

Alex

[Mr Rotty]

Photography I'm new at, dogs however are my specialty I love the effect you have created, as the others have said it does make you look again.

The only thing that I think could be improved on is the edges of the dogs coat on the left corner looks too clean from the editing. It's a small thing but I believe it's a necessity in creating a natural dog look.

[SoCal Steve]

Hi Dave -
A beautiful shot of an adorable pooch.
It's great to see something a little different and adventurous presented here. I like it a lot, but have a couple suggestions similar to the others with a couple additions.

I agree that you need a little more room at the top. And agree with you that I would have liked to see just a bit more focus on the body.

Now the points that I didn't see mentioned earlier. I find the solid green color background to be boring. No problem with the color, but try substituting a piece of out of focus foliage (better) or texturize the green (worse). The other thing is that your signature in the bottom corner looks blurry. Probably an intentional thing, but it doesn't work for me.

Still a fine picture just the way it is. Shows that you know your camera and your way around Photoshop!

[Raydar]

I like the way the dog is coming out of the frame I am just not sure on the background colour...

Maybe try a softer shade of green or maybe less fluro.

W00DY

I'm with Woody on this one.
Try deferent back ground colors & see what you can come up with.
Other wize great image, nice & sharp!!!!

Cheers
Ray

[xerubus]

it's a nice shot... very sharp....

i'd change the background colour as well as remove some of the reflections from the dog's eyes...

cheers

[Soulboy]

Just one word sir, bloody superb! (alright two then).

[ozimax]

Nice pic, don't like the green though, and it's not a dachshund ( ), but all in all a noble creature and very well captured and modified, Max