Portrait of Zoe
by BlackNewfs

Comment:
Great portrait that really captures the spirit of "sad puppy dog eyes". Zoe nailed the expression perfectly and you captured the expression well. The white background is a good high contrast color to allow this black dog to really pop visually. Illumination on your subject is great with no harsh shadows so that we see all the lovely details of this dog not to mention the nice soft sheen on the fur.

The Diva Sleeps Tonight
by hotpasta

Comment:
Love the soft "spotlight" look and feel to this portrait. The B&W color, the elements of the white couch with the beaded pillow there, and the lighting all invoke the idea of a scene from a 1940's classic movie. The star in the spotlight is that downy, white poochie that didn't just faint onto the couch but is fast asleep on it:-) The only thing that I would suggest to improve is another small light to lessen the harsh shadow that appears under the dog. You don't want to ruin that "broadway"/movie feel of the lighting but just lessen (possibly eliminate) the shadow there so that we see more of the curved contours & face of the dog to increase the visual impact. Lovely composition: 8

Cat Heaven
by hekx

Comment:
Interesting angle and vibrant green eyes on the cat. However those blue tones of the chair and the blanket are too overpowering on the eye and highly detract attention away from your main subject.

Amadorr
by sfmorris

Comment:
First off, beautiful horse! Love the reddish-brown tones on that shining coat. Now, onto the critique. I think that the composition would be strengthened if it was taken in a vertical orientation rather than the horizontal one here. Yes, we get to see the majestic beauty of this horse's body but you include too much background that detracts attention away from your subject. Give us a closer view of the head and neck with a little of the woods in the background. Lighting is also an issue. Time of day could be challenging to deal with especially when it comes to shadows and how & where they fall on your subject. The left portion of Amadorr's face is bathed in shadow thus we cannot see his/her face in entirety. The left eye is also in shadow - eyes can be windows into the soul and show us some expression (sadness, an intelligent twinkle, etc.). Without both eyes visibly prominent we only get to see 'half' of the horse's expression. A good composition with some strong bones that has the potential to move from the average to the above average with more attention on compositional framing and lighting.

Holiday Scarf
by drietdorf

Comment:
Your main subject gets swallowed up too much by the background. Bring us in closer to look at this lovely Beagle sporting a bright red scarf. The composition's visual interest would be greatly strengthened if the dog filled 60% or more of the frame. As it stands now, we don't get to see much expression on the dog's face because we are too far away to appreciate it. Plus, the red scarf is such a bold color in the overall composition that it is the first thing that captures one's attention and unfortunately tends to hold it. With such a bold color it would have been better to have had the composition be only a close-up of the Beagle wearing it. The bold color would draw the eye but then would draw back to see only the dog wearing it - thereby keeping the focus on the main subject by limiting how many elements dominate the scene. Here there are too many elements: the green of the park backdrop, the bench, the leash.... Bring the viewer closer to your main subject by filling the frame with the subject and/or one or two elements. If you do that this photo will move out of the average and into an above average category.

Juliet
by alien2thisworld

Comment:
Awww! Look at that face, look at those eyes with such a doleful expression! The way I see this picture of Juliet is she looks at you with those sad eyes giving one the guilt trip by saying "I'll just cuddle here with my best pal because no one wants to give me a pat on the head." Great pose, great expression and wonderful lighting. Love the golden hues on the dog and that of the stuffed animal - they really pop visually off of the black background.

Charlie
by Artan

Comment:
Charlie looks like a beautiful breed of downy white Samoyd. If I'm wrong then I am wrong about the breed but not the beautiful downy white fur or the lovely face that stares back at the viewer in this well-done portrait. I like how you really bring the viewer face-to-face with Charlie by giving us a close cropped view of this dog's beautiful face.

\"Zip\" the Weimaraner
by cannis

Comment:
I would have loved to see the front of this beautiful dog's face and possibly show some emotion such as a 'happy' smile or sad eyed face. Here, the composition shows us the back side of the head which does little to hold interest for the viewer because it lacks the emotion or visual interest that one can typically show with a facial portrait. If you capture an animal from a back view there has to be some dynamic action present like showing the dog in a ready to leap position as he/she watches a ball being kicked or the begging dog is watching someone preparing a delicious steak dinner. Including a dynamic action would have some interest to the shot. But as the composition stands now, all we see is the backside of a dog's head. What the dog's face might look like, we don't know. What emotion is on the dog's face (happy, sad, or curious), we don't know. Don't show the viewer less of your main subject, you need to show us more.

Lost in thoughts
by Giorgio

Comment:
I love all the details and color tones on this dog! You see all the lovely details/texture of the hair, the whiskers, the nose.... The sepia tone is nice but I wonder if the color tones of the dog would have stood out more from the background if this was color or B&W. As the composition is now the sepia tones of the dog tend to blend a little too much with the sepia tones of the background. There needs to be more contrast I think to have this dog's face 'pop' visually off the page.

Piss Off!
by jenesis

Comment:
LOL look at that expression! Love the angle that you took this photo from. It looks like this cat just approached the viewer, sat down, looked up at us, and then gave us this nasty, annoyed stare for daring to invade his/her territory. It really is the expression and the angle that makes this pet portrait an exceptional composition. It has visual interest as well as emotion: this cat really is telling us to "piss off!" with that look. Lighting and tones are very good in this composition too. Great job.