Richard Huang  


Untitled by Richard Huang

March 2020 - Untitled

About the Image(s)

EXIF: Canon 5D4, ISO 640, 155mm, f.5.6, 1/2000 sec.

Deion: Being a Canadian photographer, winter photography is something that cannot be skipped. I started shooting dog sleigh last year. I lost most of the focus last year. This year it improves a little. I submitted some of the pictures to 1x.com. Two of them were published with links below.

http://1x.com/photo/1812902/
http://1x.com/photo/1812077/

However, this picture was rejected. So I want to discuss what are the issues or what can be improved, i.e. Should I blur the background more? Should I crop out the driver? Should I increase the contrast? Should I dodge out the last black dog so that other dogs pop out?, etc.

Any suggestion is welcome. Thanks


This round’s discussion is now closed!
8 comments posted




Terry Walters   Terry Walters
Excellent image, the expression and eyes on the front two dogs is what nightmares are made of, wow!
I think the driver is essential as it explains what is happening, and the background is not a distraction. Maybe the left hand tree could be lighter in sync with the rest of the background, and yes I'd try to remove the back dog (and all spare legs)   Posted: 03/03/2020 14:33:26
 
Thanks   Posted: 03/11/2020 01:11:56



Brenda Fishbaugh   Brenda Fishbaugh
First of all, I'm so jealous! I'd love to photograph the race and I've always wanted a sled dog ride--just the cold and snow keeps me away! LOL! Bravo for braving the elements and facing those terrifying dogs! Your 1X pix are both much more powerful than this photo, primarily because we lost two dogs. There isn't really a way to fix that. The driver and the front dogs are breathtaking! I notice your dog eyes are "glowing", did you not want to fix that?

I really think your whites and blacks are great, I think the background is great. It's just missing doggie heads and not much you can do about that.

The pix on 1X are awesome!   Posted: 03/05/2020 15:43:17
 
Well it is fun, in fact, not so fun in the cold perspective, to shoot the dogs in snow, in particular, I have to lay down on the snow in order to get a low angle. It is a bit painful to do that each time, but the joy of getting some good pictures always overcomes the hesitation. I think that you are right (Terry also mention the same) that the incompleteness of the last dog gives the picture less power. So pretty much not much I can do about this picture. Thanks.   Posted: 03/11/2020 01:22:23



 
Just to show what I had tried. Again it was rejected. So as Brenda and Terry pointed out, the last dog seems one of the issues of this picture. I have stopped working on it. Cheers.   Posted: 03/11/2020 10:07:22
Comment Image



Sunil Mehta   Sunil Mehta
I liked this picture and also other two published. all are good.   Posted: 03/14/2020 23:14:20



 
Wow Richard, awesome action photos. The dog expressions are amazing!

Regarding this image compared with the other 3... thinking like a judge, I feel like this photo is a little more ordinary or even more like a snapshot that any bystander might have taken.

Whereas the two that were accepted are much more unique, really putting us into the action. The dogs are in better positions and the compositions are very interesting.

The other images also appear sharper to me compared this one.

Looking at levels, the contrast seems like it could be tweaked a little as well, giving slightly whiter whites / darker darks. Particularly the left half of the frame where the rider is a somewhat flat.

Those are minor issues and all your images in the series are quite good.   Posted: 03/17/2020 12:05:56



Jim Hagan   Jim Hagan
I like the image a lot, the intensity and composition. My thought would be to slightly increase the contrast of the team and darken the background a little.   Posted: 03/19/2020 20:34:51