Delaware News For Real: Good Times

 

I told you about my interview with Janet Purcell, Art Writer for the Trenton Times, author and painter.  What a surprise I had when I went out to get the paper Friday morning.  Of course, I had to check to be sure the Good Times section was in the paper and HOLY I'M ON THE COVER.  Not just one but TWO images on the cover, a great write up by Janet, and additional pictures to go with her story.  What a boost to my ego, just when I needed it most. If you don't get the Times, you can see the online version HERE

 

Delaware Has No News Til Friday

I mentioned last week that I was interviewed by the Art reporter at the Trenton Times, Janet Purcell.  The story should appear FRIDAY in the Good Times section of the paper so for now....this one is for you MARCIA.

I loved the way this dog looked in the tunnel. As you can see it was a bright sunny day and the dog was in the shadow of the tunnel.  Not to mention the black around his eyes.  During the day I generally have my ISO set at 200.  Kind of reminds me of all those rolls of 200 film I used to buy.  I wanted the fencing in the background to go away but needed a decent depth of field to get clarity on the dog and the stones in the front of the tunnel.  I thought an F-stop of  7.1 would give me just enough depth...however, I still feel like too much of the fence is showing.  My exposure time was 1/320 fast enough to get the light on the stones right...but dulled the dogs eyes so they blend right in with the black mask.

 

In an effort to improve this image the first thing I did was crop it.  Not much, just enough to remove the exposed grass top right, and cut down on some of the dirt in the foreground. I left the little tuft of green grass front left to compliment the green in the back.  Cropping also brought the dog closer and although a little more centered, I still feel like the viewer is being led in to the main subject through the tunnel which is a little off center to the left.

 

Finally, I brightened the eyes with the dodge tool.  Used the stamp to remove the fence posts and blurred the fence out with the blur tool.  On last view I decided to dodge the red toy and collar too, giving them just a little pop.

 

So what do you think Sister, can you see the difference between the first and last images and if so...would you consider it an improvement?  I just noticed an error but don't have the patience to go back and fix it...can you tell what it is?  Anyone else?

 

Couldn't stand it! How about now? Stupid fence rail. :-)