Kiraby
RemieComment by inspzil: Greetings from the Critique Club
By Inspzil
This is one of the most unique images I've seen on DPC
Composition - A little ankle biter dog holding something in its mouth. I don't know what the something is, but it doesn't really matter. I can kind of see where you are going with this image, and I think you were on the right track (if I'm thinking a little like you). I picture in my head a little dog's face and the rest of him fades into the light. Firstly, we need to see the whole dog's face for this to be effective. I like the background blown right out, it makes it uniform, but the face particularly around the muzzle being blown out is a pretty costly thing, scorewise. The trick is to keep that colored I think. This image has definite potential, but when working with animals or kids, you get limited to how well they want to sit still and pose and generally it isn't very long.
Technical - I'm a little befuddled by the lack of clarity in this pic. There are a few reasons why, at least in my speculation. The shutter speed is just too slow for this shot. The dog isn't dead so the potential for movement is still there. If the shot wasn't taken on a tripod, it could be camera shake. It could be a processing thing. The metering mode might not be on spot metering if it was autofocused. Maybe its just too close. I don't know exactly why, but I think these are the possibilities, in the order I think they are probable. The lack of focus is also a major major problem with this pic. The processing is very odd, as it is with anything using the curves tool in PS. I personally don't find it to be one of my top 50 useful tools in PS, but occasionally it is fun to play with a little. I think if you could've used it minimally as opposed to all out like this pic, it might have helped a little.
Overall - I think this has serious potential to be a really cool shot. The cutting off of the left eye, the washing out of the area around the mouth and the lack of focus are the major reasons. The image is very bright, as it was intended to be and could remain just as bright and be very effective if the other 3 things were fixed. Good luck in future challenges - Inspzil
