In Which I Try to Implement Some Instruction

I have been watching a dog photography class online (not the class I start next Friday), and while some of the information hasn't really been novel (try to get 'catch lights', get on the dog's level, etc.) today's lesson was on photo composition, and the instructor kept hammering home two key points: don't 'box' the dog in the photo - give him/her plenty of space, and use the Rule of Thirds unless you have a good reason not to.  While the Rule of Thirds is not new to me, I do tend to box the girls in with fairly tight cropping.  But since I am trying to decide whether that is a stylistic choice or Something I Should Stop Doing, I thought I'd try putting the advice in action today.

Here is a shot where the instructor would consider Abby 'boxed in'.  (Although the Rule of Thirds is pretty much followed here...)

While I like the shot, I do sort of see what he means.  So here's a shot where the Rule of Thirds has been applied (Lightroom has a tool that lets you overlay the lines to crop the photo appropriately, which is quite handy), and Abby isn't boxed in.

I can see how giving her a little more space in the photo frees her up a bit.  Definitely something to consider with portraits.  However, it's a tad tougher to make this happen with both girls in the frame.  Obviously I need to reposition myself and play around with the zooming in/out to see if I can give the girls 'space'.

They aren't totally boxed in, and it's a cute shot of them.

Here is a shot where I thought I'd try cropping the photo two different ways; the first crop gives Fi lots of 'space'.

This is the same photo, cropped in a little tighter.  The Rule of Thirds pretty much ensures that Fi will be off-center, which is (supposedly) 'more interesting' - more interesting or not, it does give her 'space' even with a tighter crop.

Personally, I like the tighter crop.

Tight-ish crop, but she's not completely boxed in...

This next photo is a slightly different take on the 'space' concept.  Abby is purposely out of focus and yet she's still in the picture.  This photo is one I find 'interesting'.  (Being a free online course, I can't submit the photo to the instructor for feedback.  The class starting next week will give me plenty of instructor feedback.)  Because Fi's ear is a little cut off, I guess she's still 'boxed in' but I like the photo anyway.

Here are some action photos where I've tried to use the Rule of Thirds....

I'm not sure about this one - I think dogs running at me should be centered in the photo, but I'm trying it to see if I can 'see' something I haven't seen before.

Abby's not looking toward me, so the off-center placement seems to work.

And here she's cornering, so the Rule of Thirds gives her room to 'run into the photo'.

Again, I'm not sure about the off-center positioning when Fi is coming right at me...

The ground on the right of the photo is sloping uphill, so this works, too. The photo itself isn't optimal, but I can't quite put my finger on why - maybe I'm too much above Abby to get this photo quite right.

Here, Fi has plenty of room to run into the photo.  I've fudged the Rule of Thirds a bit, but I was more interested in giving her 'room to run' than anything.

The background is too much in focus for this to really work, I think.  But alas, when my lens is zoomed out, the aperture is what it is.

Yep, she's boxed in, and the Rule of Thirds is out the window, but I wouldn't want to delete the photo - I like action like this - I guess zooming out a big might give Abby more room in the photo.

And then I got a few 'cool down photos'.

Here I feel like Fi is getting pushed out of the photo.

I like the general concepts, so I'll keep playing with them and seeing how I can incorporate them with the tighter crop style I like.

Day 269/365.