Rowdy's breeder called yesterday and asked me for a current photo of Rowdy for her website. She was just so proud of what he's accomplished overall and how he looks as a 10-year-old grandpa.

So I used the request as an excuse to take Rowdy and my new 50 mm F1.4 out for a test run. Went to one of my favorite places down the street. The day was slightly overcast. Here's a pic of Rowdy at F1.4.



I really like the new lens and I love my model. He's always so easy to work with. And so happy. May it always be so.

Jim

Jim, I like the pose, but I think the shot is a bit over exposed. I think if you were to stop it down a bit you would lose some of the detail in the chest and even create some dark holes but overall I think black dogs should look black, not white.

I think moving him over a foot or so to get out of the way of the dangling plant dog right, would have also allowed the short DOF to work better for you.

If youre concerned about deep dead blacks in the chest, use a reflector or pop some fill flash to give it a boost.

Looks like a happy dog to me!

Here's what I mean. . .




Tony

Tony,
thanks for the advice. First of all, I did not want to stop it down. I wanted to see what the OOF background looked like at F1.4.

Secondly, I was in the middle of walking Rowdy for his 3.5 mile workout and was only carrying the camera. No reflector. Just available light.

As for deeper blacks, that's always the struggle between shooting for publication and shooting for the web and I tend to err on the side of flatter and less dense blacks because most of my shots go into the magazine. Your sample is, in fact, a better representation of the black.

As for cropping and background, that's always an individual artistic decision and while I appreciate your opinion, I prefer my choice.

Thanks again,

Jim

gotcha,


I should have said, "increase your shutter speed by about 2/3 to 1 stop,"

In any event, I, should be more careful about using the terms "stop down" or "open up" as I now realize it could, to some, mean literally that. To me they are broad terms used to talk about the direction of exposure notwithstanding the way you get there. I'm sorry for the confusion.

Tony,
I knew what you meant but the exposure was spot on. I shoot RAW and open up the shadows if I need to. But the easiest way to bring the blacks back up to where they should be for viewing is simply to increase black in ACR. Which was your point and a valid one.

Flat lighting and my tendency to open up the blacks for a web press' 20% dot gain made the images look washed out. Thanks again for your input.

Jim