No longer where the heart is...
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Comment by Shannon:
I think this would be better if it had been taken closer to the house, and showing less of the sky.

Alfalfa
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Comment by prefishing:
Thanks for all the comments! To answer some of them...

He's a 9 year old mix breed; half cocker and half black lab.

As far as the snapshot feel, I would have to agree. It was taken as I was viewing some other pictures I had taken earlier in the day. He was cocking his head like that when I talked to him, and he has his signature Alfalfa hair going. So, I guess it was a snapshot. But, I had to post it anyways.

Keep shooting, right?

Alfalfa
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Comment by mcmurma:
I kind of like the carefree head tilt, sort of glamorous in a way :) Background is a bit distracting.

Alfalfa
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Comment by colyla:
puppy with a mohawk? too cute! LOL

Alfalfa
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Comment by Catherine_B:
Nice try, but it has a snap shot feel to the photo. It would be better with a less distracting background.

Alfalfa
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Comment by docurrie:
Wonder if a tighter crop or portrait crop would have helped. I like the angle of the dog's head, tends to show some of hish character.

Tucker
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Comment by Neuferland:
I really like this shot for a couple of reasons but there is also a major distracting factor at the same time. The background seems very dark to me and clashes more with the dog then accents him. The lighting is not bad but if more evenly distributed and not casting the shadows it would be great. The expression on the dog's face is perfect, the attentive eyes, the slight tilt of the head, just like you would have a person do. Taking my magic envelope I cut off a little bit more on the right, taking the dog off center just a bit, leaving more of the negative space on the left, another huge difference. Maybe try a different, lighter background, or back light the dog to lighten up the background. This would be a great shot in front of a hedge or tall bushes with some late afternoon sun. Hope this helps! :)

Alfalfa
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Comment by Neuferland:
Awww, so sweet! Love the hair! This is a great candid of your dog, not quite the portrait set up with the backdrop, usually when you have just head shots the backdrop is more solid so it doesn't distract like this one does. Also the DOF seems very shallow, the nose is in perfect focus but before you even get 1/2 to the eyes the sharpness disapates and while not fuzzy on the dog, I would have liked to seen the whole dog's face in focus. Also the color a just a tad dull, but you have a great subject there, don't stop trying! If you ever reshoot, I'd love to see the shots as I used to have a dog that looked just like Alfalfa here, his name was Jake and he was a great dog. :) A 5 for this shot. :)

Alfalfa
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Comment by Montereykiddo:
I love the hair blowing in the wind!

Alfalfa
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Comment by scuds:
That's one cute dog! What breed is that?
Focus looks a bit soft. Maybe a bit more of contrast would work great for this picture!