Boris: a man’s best friend

This reader’s dog plays his part in making a charming and effective pet portrait

Our reader Paul Spence

Itook this picture of Boris, my two-year-old Doberman, in Maryport, Cumbria. I enjoy taking him up the fells in Cumbria where he can let his hair down! I managed to get him to sit for a while with lots of treats in hand. I love the way he is gazing into the distance, and he looks very regal.

The photo was taken on my Nikon D7200 with an 18-105mm lens at 34mm. The exposure was 1/500 sec at f/8. I used Photomatix for a HDR look – but only used one file, not the more common three photos.

Our expert Andrew James

He’s a handsome chap, Paul, no question. By processing your file through Photomatix, you have captured lots of lovely, rich fur detail, and you really get a sense of the great condition Boris is in.

Your focus point is on the side of the body, rather than Boris’ eye, but you’ve got away with it because f/8 is giving you enough leeway. Even so, next time, try to use a single AF point right on his lead eye so that it is pin-sharp.

You’ve cropped really tight which I think is OK, but a little more space in front of Boris’s nose would help the balance of the image. The side-on look is also fine, although I might have tried a three-quarters shot, so Boris is looking off to the photographer’s right. I feel this would give the portrait a bit more depth.

One thing I think lets the shot down is that background. It’s very distracting when really all we want to look at is Boris. Choosing a simple background would make all the difference.