The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
Jenny brought home a Newfoundland puppy for us to babysit. Needless to say, the puppy, now named Bunny, will be staying with us. She does have a sweet personality and a disdain for the heat of Summer. She jumps into the giant water bowls and splashes water all over to cool off. I photographed her peering out of the garage door which was challenging due to the darkness of the frame.
Feedback Requested
I like the overall dark features of the image with puppy eyes and tongue appearing out of the darkness. What do you think about this comp? I wanted to do some outdoor shots, but someone did not want to venture out into the sunny backyard!
Processing software: Lightroom Classic, Photoshop 2025
Major adjustments: DeNoise, Levels, Increased Canvas size on left and rotated image 5 degrees CCW. Highlights were reduced especially on the tongue which competes with the eyes.
Blending/stacking:
Other notes: I used the rubber stamp tool to fill in areas left open from increased canvas size and rotation followed with a Guassian blur and layers mask to soften up the filled areas.
I like this a lot, Jim. The pose is excellent and the extended tongue adds a great little splash of color. You have enough separation from the background to clearly delineate the boundary between it and the subject and that’s what’s critical in these.
Hi Jim, I think Bunny’s panting tongue says it all…and those pleading eyes, “don’t make me go out there”. I like the crop and the darker background, it has a low key feel to it which I like.
She will be a fun subject for you!!
Alice
Thank you @alice and @Dennis_Plank for checking out Bunny the Newf pup. She is doing well and Jenny took her to a lake this morning so she could go swimming. …Jim
1 Like
Dennis_Plank
(Dennis Plank)
selected this as an Editor's Pick
5
An outstanding portrait and black is so difficult to do really well.
Wonderful photo! As someone who takes lots of photos of dogs (I have two golden retrievers) I know it can sometimes be a challenge to capture a great expression with clear, sharp focus on the eyes, Especially when the dog has black fur. My two dogs are both white, which brings different kinds of challenges, but I think this photo captures her personality well.
Thank you @richard27 for your comments and critique and to the @NPN_Editor for the EP. I am known for sneaking in an occasional puppy/dog photo as they are just wolves wearing puppy features…Jim
What a beautiful photo! The dark background works so well with the black fur and really makes that expressive face stand out. I love the tongue hanging out—it gives the pup so much personality. The soft, blurred background is perfect and keeps all the attention on the dog.
I’ve taken so many photos of my own dog and always struggle with finding a nice setup that gives me such a clean background, so I really appreciate how well this works. If I were really nitpicking, there’s just a tiny stray white hair beneath the left eye that caught my eye. Such a sweet, expressive portrait and a wonderful capture!
