Constructive criticism plz!

[jcrystal]

Here is my favorite little model!
Seriously though, I'm really looking to improve my pics. Any constructive criticism for this and upcoming pics would really be appreciated.
Thanks!

[kiley9806]

i cant get past the fact that i want to steal this dog, so i cant critique...
god, i love that dog!!! lol!
but really - great shot as well!
(and welcome )

[tomorrowstreasures]

He is so adorable!!!! Nice shot and shadow, too.

[Marko]

This is quite well done! I like the dog's pose, the shadow and the shadow detail on the dark side of the face.

The dog has some clipped (overblown) highlights on the chest area that may be too blown to fix...but even so I REALLY like this shot. I might try to also burn the right edge and the white molding.
Hope that helps - marko

[tirediron]

Agree with Marko's comments and add that I think it might have been better if his posterior hadn't been cropped. Great capture however - I like it very much.

[jcrystal]

Lol, yeah he's awesome, and loves getting his picture taken!

Thanks for the comments guys. I'll try burning the molding like you suggested Marko. Good tip! I heard through previous posts that you have good tips on burning on your podcast. So I'm gonna go check it out right now.

[Marko]

My pleasure - and yup even when I was doing darkroom, I dodged and burned almost every single shot (for personal work)....and so did all the great teachers that taught me how to print, and so did most of the great master printers that taught my teachers how to print...
Mastering dodging and burning is a truly important task in achieving a great photograph.

[PaulaLynn]

Dodging and Burning Ok, I kid, but only slightly, I have never dodged or burned any of my photos.... yet I read about it here quite ofton, what should I be doing exactly if you don't mind?

PS... sorry for hijacking the thread....

[Marko]

No Prob...but rather than explain, we did a podcast on this with images. I also describe 1 technique in the body of the post. Dodging and burning means selectively lightening and darkening specific areas in a photograph and it is an essential thing to learn. Here's the link - hope it helps you and others - Marko
http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=100