Painted dog (C)

[Don Railton]

Hi Guys

Another image from the Perth Zoo. Apparently these are endangered in the wild, glad to say there is a big and apparently happy community of them here in Perth. This was shot in under trees and it took a lot of wheel spinning to keep the exposure right as they moved in and out of the shade. As a consequence this has been shot at the wrong settings and the nose is a little out of focus as a result... I should have been spinning the F stop, not the shutter, spot the learner...

500F4 & 1D4 on a tripod and Wimberley head
settings; 1/4000 sec at F4 ISO 1600. yes, I could have easily traded speed for DOF but...
Processed IN ACR and CS6, mainly levels and a bit of NR on BG and selective Sharpening on Dog.
This is about 80% of full frame...

Don

[edwardselfe]

Yes, you could have managed to get the nose in focus too, but I don't think it much matters in the end. The eyes are super sharp and that's what counts. I'm not sure the crop works for me, as it makes the dog look fat! But I will see what others say and perhaps they have ideas too!
Ed

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Don , for me from the PP work pOV , one of your best so far, well done.
Very nice and pleasing BKG.I am fine with the comp.The eyes are great .

Ed - animals in captivity are mostly fat , compared to their free roaming relatives.

TFS Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Don, yes they are endangered, but it's always nice to see Wild dogs at anytime, although from a screen you do miss their pungent odour!

Like the overall colours, but agree the crop does not work for me either. I think perhaps the options would have been less dog with more space to the left, or smaller in frame so the rear isn't clipped, but that's just my take. I do also agree, with 1/4000 you could have given yourself more DoF, but sometimes in the heat of the moment... just remember next time, then this lesson has worked. :w3 Personally and if it was me, I would loose the white areas on the LHS and blend them into the BKG.


Ed - animals in captivity are mostly fat , compared to their free roaming relatives.

They just don't get the exercise in captivity Andreas, I agree.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice head-on gaze and the colours/blacks look spot on Don.
I agree the crop/comp isn't ideal and I'd crop closer to a vertical portrait format.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Don - your pp has really improved. Love the eyes here and overall warmth. The angle of the body is a little awkward which makes the dog look fat but it's the pose the dog gave you. I agree in hindsight you could have sacrificed a bit of ss for more dof but we all have those moments.

TFS,
Rachel

[Don Railton]

Thanks for the comments guys..! Most appreciated. regarding PP, I have discovered the dropper tool in ACR. This allows me to check the colour balance a lot more accurately in multiple locations and I thought that was a good find and very useful in this image. It will remain in my arsenal of tools from now on. Regarding the crop, I did crop from the lower and left to make it tighter and put the head in the LH third, so there is opportunity to open the image up again with alternative crops. I will have a play tonight and repost. These Dogs had just been feed which is why they were happy and apparently fat. Never seen them in the wild but I can confirm there is a pungent ammonia like stench wafting from the compound.

regards to you all

DON

[Steve Kaluski]

Glad you found the eye dropper, it certainly helps Don, look forward to the RP.

[Don Railton]

Hi Guys

This is the full frame image, posted to show what I had to work with. In consideration of the comments, I think removing part of the rump and leaving more to the left is probably the best option. I did consider Morkel's suggestion of a portrait crop but it needs to be at least square to get all the head in, and while I dont dislike square I dont this is the right image for that. I will follow this post with my new crop.

thanks again for your help

DON

[Don Railton]

This is the crop that I now think might work best, but feel free to disgree if you like. It removes the fat stomach and truncated rump and leaves a little more room for the dog to move into. I have forgotten to addressed Steves call on the white blotches bottom of frame but will do..

thanks again

DON

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Don - It looks good. I might just bring the crop up from the bottom to just above the inverted v between the front legs.

Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Don WDYT to this, it avoids the rotund figure without pixel bashing?

Just watch the signature, I think it may start to infringe on the enjoyment of the subject? :w3

cheers
Steve

[Don Railton]

Hi Rachel, I wondered about lifting the crop up to remove that 'V', and I almost did it... so I am glad you mentioned it.

Hi Steve, I rushed out these changes and normally would be a lot more particular about the signature not interfering with the image. Regarding your repost, I am struggling to see what you did to be honest...

as always, thanks for the valuabe input

best regards
DON

[Steve Kaluski]

Regarding your repost, I am struggling to see what you did to be honest...

I just recropped from the LHS with a 4x5 crop to loose the full tummy. :w3

[Steve Canuel]

Nice portrait Don. I like your final version.

[Don Railton]

Thanks Steve..