Up for critique. A head study, 10 year old Basenji. Natural light. These are very busy dogs. When you do get their attention they have the most intense stare. I would have liked to have had a lighter background but found myself quite limited in the shooting area I had.

Preston,
Basenji's are a very intense breed and those ears say it all. And, yes, they are very busy guys!

This is a very nice portrait. I might suggest using the fill-light slider in ACR to bring those ears off of the background a bit more. But very nice expression and I love the shallow DOF.

Jim

Thanks Jim. Here is a revision using your suggestion on the ACR fill. I can't decide if I'm changing the color of the dog too much with it...but it does help pop him from the background.

Preston, hope you don't mind me working on this image as I hope to show you what I mean visually. With the image lightened overall it seems to take on a softer look and when you describe Intense, softer does not fit the mood.

I cropped slightly and worked the image to try to keep that strong design in focus. We have several Basenji's in our dog training club and I do enjoy watching them work. Strong willed with their own agenda just reminds me of all the Terriers I love. A real challenge to train but what a great reward.

I like your image and would enjoy seeing more images of this pup. The tail and more of the Brindle might be nice to see.



my version ------------------------------------- original

Well, you definitely lighten how the coat looks but since I didn't see the dog "in the fur" I don't know if it changes the real color. You can always add a bit of black in ACR to bring up the brindle in the coat. It's all a matter of balance. I like this image better than the original.

Jim

I think I like the original better, though PeggySue's version is nice too. Shadow highlight is a great tool but sure can go overboard fast!

I have a couple actions that I made called "Kill Highlights" and "Kill Shadows." I think they do a better job than the built in S/H adjustment.

Drop me an email if you would like to try them out. Eventually, I'll be marketing them, but I'm not there yet.

"Kill Highlights" is fine but "Open Shadows" would be better. JMHO.

Julie, I find the fill-light slider in ACR works much better than the Shadow/Highlight Adjustment slider under Image in Photoshop. It really does act like a fill light especially if I used fill in the original photo.

Preston, you're the only one who saw the dog live and in color so you're the only one that knows how true to the dog's coat the various fixes can bring it. I find that a simple increase in saturation after all the shadow work brings everything back to "normal" looking.

Jim

I tried using the Black slider to bring back some of the natural color, but didn't get the results I wanted. PeggySue's looked the best to me, so I went to work on the image...mainly in ACR with the Adjustment Tool working just on the background and putting a little light into the ears and this is the result. Also used the Adjustment Tool to put a little light into his chest and brightened the white there a bit.