Hello,

My name is Ingrid and I am a novice/hobby photographer that is working on her skills I train and show Australian Cattle Dogs so dog photography is one of my favorite focuses. I am looking forward to listening and learning on this site! I would love it if people could jump start my learning by critiquing this photo for me

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Welcome Ingrid (didn't think I'd be saying that to anyone so soon after joining myself).

You do have some excellent shots in your galleries it must have been hard to pick "the one" for your first posting here. What camera are you using? They are good schutzhund shots you have and well captioned. I don't like schutzhund myself, (I know my rotti would love it, I'm the one with the reservations). I hope to do some herding photography soon, my border collie cross can only enter informal competition as he is not purebred - but will enjoy it as an "associate member". Your dogs are really versatile, lovely to see cattle dogs being given these opportunities to shine.

Hi Ingrid,

Welcome to the group! This is a good photo. I enjoyed viewing your PBase galleries.

One key to creating portraits is paying attention to the background (horizon is at eye level) and in this case the grass the dog is in. I would also like to see some more light on the dogs face, to put a sparkle in his/her eyes. I also find having my camera and lens slightly higher than the subject gives a better result. Not standing looking down, but not at eye level either.

In your galleries I am not sure what the protocol would be for using flash, but if you can use flash on these more portrait type of photos, I would recommend it. Just use it on low power so it is not obvious.

Working on this image in photoshop or other editing software could really enhance an already nice photo.

You are off to a good start, I look forward to seeing more of your work. I hope this is what you were looking for in regards to comments.

Thanks so much for both of your comments! Yes, this is exactly the type of comments that I am looking for. I am using a D70 and do not have any type of flashes except for the standard attached flash but am hoping to get an SB800 in the next few months. Thanks again for both your comments they are greatly appreciated!

Hi Ingrid,
your work is very nice. I'm a dog show photographer so I say that with some experience.

I disagree slightly with Jeff's advice about camera position: I find that getting slightly lower than the dog produces the best angle and head perspective. I agree with his comment about using flash to get catch-lights in the dog's eyes when you're doing portraits. The on-camera flash works fine for this.

As a Rottie owner, I've shot a lot of Schutzhund Trials. I try to focus on the release rather than the bite because of people's sensitivity to Rotties as "attack" dogs. Just something to consider if you intend to publish any of your work. And, yes, the action is when the dog latches onto the sleeve. That's why I don't shoot Schutzhund any more.

Nice work. I'd like to see more.

Jim Garvie