A rare quiet moment

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...631/BonpoP.jpg




Model NIKON D7000
Artist LEN SWIM
Copyright LEN SWIM
ExposureTime 1/60
FNumber 4.8
ExposureProgram Aperture-priority AE
ISO 1250
ShutterSpeedValue 1/60
ApertureValue 4.8
ExposureCompensation -2/3
MaxApertureValue 4.8
MeteringMode Multi-segment
LightSource Unknown
Flash Off, Did not fire
FocalLength 135.0 mm
ColorSpace Uncalibrated
ExifImageWidth 4928
ExifImageHeight 3264
SensingMethod One-chip color area
FileSource Digital Camera
SceneType Directly photographed
CustomRendered Normal
ExposureMode Auto
WhiteBalance Auto
DigitalZoomRatio 1
FocalLengthIn35mmFormat 202 mm
SceneCaptureType Standard
GainControl High gain up
Contrast Normal
Saturation Normal
Sharpness Normal
LensInfo 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6
LensModel 70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

First, I'd like to thank you for being our first Critique Corner participant. Of course you know, since you set up the section, that this specific one goes more in to detail and can be very technical as well as very critical (trying to avoid harsh here). With that being said, lets take a look at the shot and see how we could improve it.

Off the bat the one thing that stands out to me is the White Balance. Seeing your EXIF info (excellent exif data btw), I see you used auto white balance. The auto white balance has given the shot a very mild green hue which is affecting the overall shot. It isn't a huge deal, but as soon as I opened the thread, that is the first thing that stood out to me.

With any moving (or potentially moving ) subject, you always risk that they may move from a position or pose that they were in that you really wanted to capture. I feel that is the case here. However, after you got this first shot done (I call this the out of the way shot, because you've gotten the main shot "out of the way"), I would have moved off to the right a little bit and I would have avoided having that crease on the couch coming from right out of the top of the subject. Furthermore, had you moved off to the right a little bit, I believe your subject would have actually tracked you with his eyes only, and not head, at least that is the feeling I am getting from the shot alone. Had you done this, the overall shot would have been a little more comical and would have translated the "lazy sunday" feel that this shot is already portraying well.

Centralized composition is one area that I try to get people to avoid purposefully. That isn't to say that you should never shoot with your subject in the middle, but you should shoot enough out of middle comp, that when you do it, it is intentional. I believe this would have been a slightly better shot, had you moved the frame just a bit, or even better, if you would have zoomed in just a little more and have had him on the lower right corner slightly.

The exposure seems almost perfect to me, although the away side of the subject is a little on the dark side. Considering your subjects coat, this is to be expected, even with perfect exposure. I believe that if you would have exposure compensated once to the +, it may have been just a tad bit better, or borderline clipped on the dominant side of your subject.

Sharpness seems relatively good. I wish the shot was larger so that we could get the focus zone more evident, but overall I like the sharpness.

Overall, a great shot of a lovely dog. The shot translates that lazy look which is what I believe you are trying to depict here. I could only imagine a shot outdoors with that nice looking coat on this lovely subject.

Thanks again for sharing with us and making yourself subject to our critique.

Have a good day Len :)

Thanks for the great tips Ricardo. He isn't the most cooperative subject lol. The original shot had him in a different position completely, but as soon as I started snapping shots, he popped his head up over the arm to pay attention to what I was doing. Exposure compensation just might be the thing I need, as I have tried many time to get shots of him in the living room, but unless the time of day is right the lighting never works. If I use a flash, he just gets demon eyes and it;s been very frustrating. In terms of white balance do you have any suggestions?

btw, the exif came from http://metapicz.com/#landing (I was being particularly lazy and wanted to just cut and paste it )

The first shot before he moves was:

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...540/pnDYuu.jpg

Again poorly framed with him in the middle :(

Len,
Re:demon eyes in first pic posted
A wireless flash set up to the upper left of the couch may give you the illumination you need and no red eyes..you can also try bouncing it off the ceiling. As it is thd dog and couch blend....but technically thats really what any dog and couch do!:)

Here you have the same wb issue. Again, it isn't drastic, but the slider is more towards the green side than it needs to be. You can fix this by simply adjusting your white balance temp with a slider adjustment with an editing program. You will shift from Green to Magenta. Just a tad though. This is one of the reasons I tell many people to shoot in RAW. Jpeg files are fine, and now-a-days the jpeg files are really large and hold a lot of detail, but the RAW file carries EVERYTHING. This gives you a much larger latitude when adjusting such things as White balance and highlight recovery etc.

I will say this, the second shot actually caught my attention more because of the expression on the subjects face. This is what I would have liked to see in the first picture. However, I'm sure you realized this, the arm rest of the couch has completely become dominant in your frame which is a major distraction. These things are very difficult to avoid at times and the only way I see how to reduce the distraction here would have been to zoom in more, and pan to the right a bit. That would have put your subject off-center and would have given your subject and exit out of the frame by having his/her face looking towards it.

I feel more captivated with the second shot, even considering the distraction, but both shots are good shots.

Both photos were show in RAW, I just converted them to upload :) Do think the framing can be fixed somewhat with a crop? Although the intention was to get tips for better photos from the start, it still would be helpful to get ideas to somewhat recover from bad shots too :)

The first shot would benefit more from a crop from the top right in. The second one doesn't leave much space for cropping as you will start to crop out the paw or the top of the head very quickly. When cropping, I try to crop with the original aspect ratio, rather than crop without discretion