This is my favorite picture of the month. I don't expect it to be much more than a snapshot to most, though. Hoping it at least breaks 5.
The feet belong to an Iraqi gentleman who lives on a US patrol camp. The puppy is one of four born to an Iraqi dog who also hangs out at the camp. I was there very briefly - got a kick out of the puppies.
Edit to add that I tried re-editing this - turned the dog purple, the guys legs green, and painted over all the distractions. Added vignetting, but poorly since I really don't know how to do that, and blurred all but the dog's face. It really didn't help much so I deleted it. But it was fun!
Statistics
Place: 283 out of 429 Avg (all users): 5.3038 Avg (commenters): 5.6667 Avg (participants): 5.3300 Avg (non-participants): 5.2586 Views since voting: 1079 Views during voting: 234 Votes: 158 Comments: 29 Favorites: 1 (view)
Let's see, with regard to the technicals it's pretty solid as many others have noted. Black and white was definitely the way to go here, and you've done a good job with the conversion. As a side note, my favorite way to add a vignette (in CS2) is to go to Filter/Distort/Lens Correction and then use the vignette sliders moving left to create one instead of correcting one.
This is definitely one of those shots that needs study to fully appreciate, but at the end of the day it's a dog drinking from a bowl with a man watching. There needs to be some interaction somewhere, either with the subjects in the frame (dog actually drinking water, man petting the dog, etc.) or with the subject and the viewer (like if you were more in front of him, but still showing dog lengthwise for depth). The man's feet does nothing for me, but I see I'm in the minority there. I'm not much of a dog person, either, so in the absence of flying water (or milk, or whatever it is) to give me a story or a cute expression on the dog's face, I'm largely unmoved. Someone previously mentioned getting down a even bit lower, and I think that might have helped with regard to forcing viewer interaction with the scene and showing them something they don't ordinarily see.
It's a solid shot, and I can definitely see the appeal. I really think it's just that I'm not so much of a dog person to have that instant emotional appeal that would make me look deeper to find the hidden treasure in the shot.
Love the detail in the care taken to give the dog bowl its own special box - puppies will knock their bowls about a lot. :) Dynamic and interesting composition, a really soothing kind of shot.
I really liked the point of view of this shot and thought that the black and white conversion was strong enough to give the shot pop but not so harsh that it overpowered the intrinsic softeness of the dogs fur
Really nice composition as well, sadly one of those shots that gets lost in a free study because it is not brightly coloured enough
Love this image, sadly I only gave this a 6. I wouldn't change a thing. I believe some photos are just not meant to score high on DPC no matter how good they are.
Now see, I really like this shot. The BW and good contrast are excellent. The composition is different and makes you look - not the smooth stuff we usually see. Me, I like shots that inspire to stop and study for a minute. That said, however, here on DPC, in a Free Study, it was not likely to do better due to what's generally popular. I would have given it a 7 based on my personal taste.
Deb
I didn't get around to voting on this one, but I would have given it a 6 or 7. I quite like the story told by the man's shoes and the relationship to the dog. The reason I feel you have a story here is how the man's left foot is slightly askew as if waiting for his dog to finish having the drink. The way the lines of the dog's back and the crack in the street intersect at the dog's head also drew me in.
This is a risky shot for a FS but I really quite liked it and I woudl not have changed a thing about the shot. I think it would be funny to see the purple dog edit sometime....
This has a kind of street photography feel to it, where the moment of capture is more important than the technicals that may have brought down your score. As others have mentioned, the lifted foot adds a nice feel to the image. I also really like the movement in the milk where the dog is lapping it up, and the gritty feel to the overall setting, particularly the 2x4 pieces framing the bowl. There's a lot to look at here, including the other dog's feet behind the tapping shoe guy.
I can see this as a shot on a coffeehouse wall. It takes time to appreciate an image like this, and knowing the back story makes it fuller. Unfortunately, that's not the kind of image that does well at DPC, particularly in a challenge where people are voting 424 images. Guilty as charged -- I gave you a quick trigger 5 because the image didn't grab me right off the bat. On further reflection I'd probably give it an honest 7 -- the image doesn't have the pop or emotion for me that pushes it higher, but its a very nice slice of life that would fit well in a larger series of images.
I gave you a 5, and so was one of the voters who brought down your score. there were a number of things that I liked and I number of things that i didn;t about this photo:
Overall Composition - I liked the basic composition, and in particular the inclusion of the man's feet; the way one of them is casually lifted adds an additional casual dimension (and I mean that as a positive). I would prefer if you had taken a slightly llower pwerspective and framed the photo without the elements in the background, which I find somewhat distracting. If I cover the area I see that for me cropping the current photo nearly works, but not quite. A strong plus is that the eye of the viewer is led fully around the photo.
Mono Conversion - A good range of tones from white through to black; the only area here that i would question is the contrast between the dog's coat, particularly at its neck, and the background.
Focus - seems slightly soft; I would have preferred the dog's coat to be somewhat sharper (perhaps by use of selective USM? I'm not good with PS so may be talking rubbish....)
Overall Feel/Emotional Response - the basis of a very interesting and sound photo, but just not quite there for me. It is interesting that you refer to the dog as a puppy - I see a large rather intimidating animal. I wonder if the fact that whilst I am not scared of dogs, I am aprehensive of them has clouded by view.
I gave this photo a 7. I can see why you loved it, its a cute puppy and a beautiful moment. I think maybe the voters see this as being a snapshot, but the very reasons most of them voted it low are the exact things I like the most. (ie. the rustic bowl, the mans feet).
Actually in the overall scheme of things, this did not do too bad. I am happy to see where it placed.
I remember thinking pretty much this in voting - "Cute shot, wish the dog was really in focus... it's the feet, the feet are cool, stepping up just a bit, thats just cool."
Now had it been a cat instead of a dog with those feet in the background - 10!
It's a nice simple image, perhaps too simple for DPC standards. I think a more agressive post processing would have had a better impact to DPC crowd, thus raising the score.
I liked the moment captured and I am a sucker for dogs in pics anyway. I like photos like these because they imply that there's more to the story. Good choice of color tone too.
This is one of my favorites so far! You might have gotten a little lower down, and had a little more of the dog's back paw in the shot, but otherwise, awesome
I don't see the "point" of this picture. It's either a very carefully observed scene where the man and dog are well positioned or it's a snapshot of a dog drinking from a bowl with a very cluttered background.
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