This is my beautiful 4yr old chocolate lab Ali.
the deadline on this challenge snuck up on me. i wanted to do an all out shoot w/ my studio lights, but time did not permit. shot this before one of my college finals today. hopefully i'll get a good grade on both the test and this image ;) i originally wanted to put her in a santa hat, but figured there would be enough of that going on in this challenge so decided not to.
she loves to pose for the camera. :D i wanted to do something that would really bring her eyes out, and i think this did it. some might think it's creepy, but it's very beautiful to me.
kindof odd how i set this up. it turned out JUST how i wanted it, and maybe it was plain luck, or maybe i'm getting better at setting up things with trial and error...but i had her sit still...and drool a little bit.. cause i wanted some drool on her whiskers for added detail, then i gave her a biscuit. then, i made her bark by telling her to speak (she learned this when she was a few months old ) and this spread the drool all over the place. then put another biscuit treat right by the lens, and voila! picture taken.
edited, and boom. done.
post processing:
curves adjustment layers
levels
tons of dodging and burning
resize for web (640 on the long side)
unsharp mask on the lightness channel in lab mode
save for web
good luck to all :D
***Post Challenge***
WWOWOWOW my 2nd highest scoring image. it was fun watching this one climb up. congrats everyone that entered, very well done.
Statistics
Place: 26 out of 378 Avg (all users): 6.5752 Avg (commenters): 8.3333 Avg (participants): 6.3721 Avg (non-participants): 6.7664 Views since voting: 2259 Views during voting: 430 Votes: 266 Comments: 21 Favorites: 4 (view)
Compostion – I am just not comfortable with this composition. I am not sure if it’s the crop that throwing me off. I think maybe placing the whole head in the shot would have changed his look even if the head was on an angle.
Technical & Set-Up – From reading your comments the setup and lighting looks good and your methods of creating something different from the norm by creating a semi-wet look is excellent. This also shows in the comments from the other members and a lot of them liked the wet look. Looking at the rest of portfolio you have a good understanding of you camera and your technique is very sound.
Post Processing- Overall the processing has been done good as there is good clarity and your view of getting his eyes to attraction to the photograph is one spot. As soon as I looked at the photograph the first thing that drew me in was her eyes.
Opinion – This image fits and works very well for this challenge. You have just a beautiful lab and you have managed to capture that with excellent clarity. My biggest change in this photograph would have been the composition and this would have just been getting more of his head into the shot and not such a tight crop.
8 - Nice crop and composition. Wonder about a little more ear top left, so perhaps a slightly taller frame. And, 'if only' both eyes evenly lit, but fairly minor.
Nice honest doggy portrait. I like the wet on his whiskers. Maybe it's my eye, but there are areas that seem a smidge over sharp. No detraction - maybe I need my glasses. LOL 7
Add photograph to your favorites
Add photographer to your favorites
Photographer found comment helpful.
