Dogs by Ed Dunens is licensed under the Creative Commons License
CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic
Dogs thrive off companionship whether that’s with their humans or surrounded by other dogs. They are loyal beings and showcase that with their affection and willingness to learn. In the photo above you can see that the first dog on the left is leading the pack between the two but also looks like they are waiting for the second dog to catch up. The second dog is seeking to catch up with the first so that they can stay together.
This image is actually a great image my eyes. They did a good job following the rule of thirds and breaking up the focal points. However, when I initially saw this image, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of dog number two. I felt they needed to be showcased. The background is at the beach and what looks to be a nice overcast day, not too sunny but still light. I can almost feel the cold breeze and I wanted to show just how amazing the wind must’ve felt the dogs were running through.
Freedom by Ciara Crowley is licensed under the Creative Commons License
CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic
To crop this photo I brought focus to the second dog which originally caught my eye. To catch the action of this dog running away, I tried to shift the dog to the left middle block following the rule of thirds.
I wanted to capture the dog like they were almost running out of the photo. I kept the beach and the person in the water to showcase the freeing feeling of the beach. I feel like the beach is already a place where people go to let loose and relax so I felt that went perfect with my title of Freedom.
I like the photo and how the background is blurred to emphasize the dogs. Since the dog is running toward the left, I think it might’ve been nice to have more room on that side and have the dog centered more on the right third, although I’m not sure if the spacing between the dogs would allow for that.
I actually might have kept the second dog in the photo and got rid of the person to focus more on the dogs. It looks like the one dog is about to pounce on the one not paying attention. So keeping both dogs gives you a little more to the story.
Hi Ciara! With the dog you cropped in the original photo, it does appear that the running dog is running after his companion. With the first dog cropped out, it enhanced the feeling of a carefree afternoon on the beach. I agree with your assessment to leave the background in. Cropped out, the photo would have been far too zoomed in on the dog and would have taken away much of the context. The person in the water lends the visual of a fun day at the beach but doesn’t take it away because of the blurred quality. I have difficulties naming things like photos or emails, but the title you chose to give your edited photo encompasses what I feel is going through this dog’s mind.
Hi Ciara! I do think that the meaning of this image was changed with your crop. The dog’s motivations are shifted between the two versions. In your crop, the dog is running, but it does not have a clear goal in mind. In the original, it may be interpreted that the dog is running toward the other dog.
If you had zoomed a little more, then placed the running dog on the right side of the image, it would leave more space in front. This would allow for the dog to have some space to run into. I would also be interested to see what you might do if the surfer was the subject of the cropped image.
Hello Ciara,
I love how you cropped that picture and showed the second dog while running. Looking at the cropped picture showed me the happiness of this dog running like he is flying. I agree with you that dogs are innocent souls, and they feel us as humans. I’m myself have 5 dogs, and I consider myself a dog lover and animal passionate in general. Great job cropping this picture.
Thank you