Hiking with the Dog

[grouseking]

I love the look on his face...

What else can I do? I actually played with the colors a bit, to try to make him stand out a little more, but I think it would be better if the background was blurry, so he could stand out more.

 

[nartreb]

It wouldn't be too hard to blur the background digitally, but I think the shot would lose a lot of character. It'd look like a studio background.

Only thing I'd do is very gently brighten the shadowy side of the dog's face (dog's left ear and left cheekbone) to see if you can bring up more of those golden highlights. Nobody will confuse that color with the background.

On second thought, I'm also tempted to play with the crop - if you crop about an inch off the left, the dog will appear to have some room to move into to its right.

 

[woodsxc]

You could also try cropping the bottom, removing some of his body. That way, face will stand out more from the rest of the frame since there's less of that light brown color in it.

 

[Grumpy]

Try cropping from the left, and from the right, to make a clearly vertical composition. Also, lighten the shadowed side of your pooch's face as suggested by nartreb. This is an appealing photo of a hiking buddy.

G.

 

[woodsxc]

grouseking, what editing software do you have? iPhoto? Photoshop? Nikon? Depending on which you've got, your mode of attack will be slightly different. If you have iPhoto, it will be hard to blur out the background without smudging the whole thing. Photoshop is the best, but it takes a lot more time to get a good result.

 

[Peakbagr]

What a great, expressive face.

I think the background of snow and leaves distracts, especially the leaves due to your dog's coloration. I'd try to crop the leaves portion and then slightly blur all but his head.

 

[JohnL]

I'd concur with Grumpy's suggestion of the vertical composition. I like the way the body is on an angle and the diagonal lines of his body and his turned-up head offer up a portrait of a pet without the triteness of a straight on shot. Well done.

JohnL

 

[nartreb]

I like the vertical framing idea too, but if you're set on altering the background to make the dog stand out, try desaturating it instead of blurring it. It's an obviously artificial effect, but I think it would work for this shot.

 

[forestgnome]

Nice image of your great looking freind!

It would be easier and beneficial to shoot it again...many times in fact. He's always around so practice with him. This can teach you to pay attention to some basic, important things.

Anticipate how he stands out from the background before you even shoot. My dog is solid black...not easy. This can train you to always consider what is around your subject. Move around to put him in front of desired background.

Observe the lighting on his face, and observe any dark shadows. You can help yourself by automatically being aware of high or low contrast.

Aperature is the key to blurring background. You should automatically think large f stops (f/2.8, f/3.5, etc.) when your looking for blurred background.

Avoid thinking to yourself "these complicated rules ruin the joy of capture" because at some point they will happen in your mind as automatically as driving a car.

FWIW, I like the lighting in this image and I think his face pops quite well. The comp is excellent because it evokes an emotion, at least for this dog-lover.

Keep shootin'