Pet Portrait

[Jocelyn Walker]

I know that I had the same shot on Eye of the camera a few weeks ago to demonstrate pics taken with my new Nikon DSLR! However, I reworked it slightly & thought I may ask for critique if I may!

[Stephen]

Re: Pet Portrait

Hi Jocelyn, I've edited your post to show the full size photo.

I think this is a charming photo of your dog, and if you are a dog fan like Pol then you will love it. The low angle and close up nature are great.

For me though, I'd have liked to have seen more focus on the eyes as well. Only increased depth of field will achieve this, as if you focused on the eyes then the nose may well be out of focus. So, how can you do this? Maybe if you put the camera on f11 in Aperture Priority, this may just do it, though its likely going to reduce the shutter speed to around 1/15 sec. Too slow for hand held without image stabilisation. If you increase the ISO to about 800 though this should be spot on and should not be detrimental to the photo significantly.

[Ian]

Re: Pet Portrait

As usual Stephen has basically said everything I would have

Ian

[Pol]

Re: Pet Portrait

Stephen has indeed made some good suggestions.

In the meantime, Jocelyn, you could try getting rid of the tear that's pooled at the bottom of the dog's eye as it's reflecting light and tends to make the eye edge look blurry.

I'd suggest maybe using the cloning tool to carefully remove the reflected white areas around the bottom of her eye - but leaving just the catchlight just as it is.
Next - try carefully and gently using the sharpening tool with a small brush and slightly sharpen up the small areas of hair around the eye (the area nearest her nose).

If it's done carefully, not overdone, I think you could probably manage to bring the focus effect of the eye more into line with the focus detail on the snout and nose.

It's a very nice, very appealing photo.

Pol

[Jocelyn Walker]

Re: Pet Portrait

Thank you Stephen, Ian & Pol! I shall indeed take heed of your suggestions & use them when I get the opportunity! You constructive comments are very much appreciated!

[ash]

Re: Pet Portrait

Its a cute likkle doggy!
My advise when shooting people or animals is to always use focus lock on the eyes and re compose your image! Using these rules as priority then if you wish other parts to be more in focus stop down to a smaller aperture, but this is rarely possible as shots like this are indoors and a smaller aperture will always give you the potential of movement blur.
cheers
Ash.