Hey Guys,

This was my first portrait session with a Rottweiler. A beautiful, older gentleman. I think at over 10, he was still about 120+ pounds. Impressive.

Jim - very nice. I would clone out the vertical mark in the backdrop on all but the last one. It looks like there is a spear coming into his back. On #1, there is also a line coming out of his butt that I would clone out. Did you do these "in studio" or "on site"? Lighting?

I did a shoot of a 10 year old Dane girl on Saturday. I'll post some of that grand old lady after I've processed them.

Again, very nice shots of a handsome older boy.

Hey Julie,

Thanks for the comments. I go back and forth on cloning the backdrop marks out. Part of me likes the textures that they create - though if folks find it distracting, they are easy enough to get rid of.

As to whether or not as to location - I do 90% of my stuff in the owner's homes. I find that the pets are generally much more relaxed and able to listen better - particularly given the horde that I have at home, LOL.

As to the lighting, I used a 4 flash set-up for these. Two with fong domes fired from about 2 to 3 feet above the guy's head, about 10 feet away. I also used another, bounced down to help eliminate shadow.

I look forward to seeing your shots of the Dane!

James

James,
what a nice-looking gentleman! Nice job. I do NOT find the backdrop distracting. In fact, if properly laid out, I find that the folds lead the eye to the subject.

I might increase contrast just a bit. Rotties are black not charcoal and it's OK to show that. Sometimes we tend to want to decrease contrast in an effort to increase coat texture. A little more black would work better for me.

I have an affinity for those white chins. And kind eyes.

Nice job.

Jim

Like them all, but I think I like the one with his big old open smile the best.
My rottys see the camera and they get all serious and won't smile. One won't even move. He doesn't seem afraid, but rather seems to know to sit still and pose. (very odd)

Only distraction I see on that one is the white spec of dust (or doggie treat?) on his forehead.

I would have to agree that the folds in most of the photos add depth and leading lines, but on that first one the dark crease leading straight off to the right could use softening or removal.

Definitely increase the contrast to make the rottie really black. He looks like super sweet boy!

An easy way to remove the wrinkles is with the dodge tool. It will take away the dark areas, but not really affect your photo if you accidentaly hit the dog

Hey Guys,

I was going back and forth about the contrast issue while I was processing the shots. If I kick it up a lot, you quickly lose shadow detail in the coat. Is it worth the trade off?

James

James,
then just dial up the black in your selective color palette. That will remove the grayish look to the coat.

When I do Rotties -- and I do a lot of them -- I set my white and black levels in ICorrect Professional which limits the upper end and maxes the black and then I adjust brightness and contrast. That way I get a real black and yet I can bring up the texture.

Keep in mind that black levels on a monitor are not the same as black levels in a print. You should see more detail in the print.

Jim

I played with the first one, dodged the creases upped the contrast a little, increased saturation alot and sharpened it. On dog like this, I would go with an initial unsharp mask of 20/50/0 and that will increase contrast. I didn't do it on this jpg, because I like to do that on the larger ones. I sharpened this one with a little bit of smart sharpening to bring back out coat detail.

What a handsome older man. Good job James! Really hard to get black on white like that.