Waiting for Master: What provoked me to capture this image was the unsettling contrast between cuddly dog and polluted, urban street. And of course the somewhat sad feel of the scene...

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

What provoked me to capture this image was the unsettling contrast between cuddly dog and polluted, urban street. And of course the somewhat sad feel of the scene, with the vulnerable dog tied up and left alone while the owner went into a shop.

I didn't want to move in too close to the subject, as this isn't so much a cute dog portrait, but rather a representation of the relationship between subject and environment. For the same reason, I chose not to digitally "clean up" the pavement by diligently cloning out the litter. And I made an effort to avoid including distracting objects within the composition which do not add anything meaningful to the image's impact or general message.

Would you have composed this scene differently? In what way?

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fourpar Loc: Central Florida

I like it"un-enhanced". I might crop a little to emphasize the dogs facial expression, but not so much as to loose the "clutter" of the scene. Well taken and effectively tells a story...in my opinion. Nice!

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

fourpar wrote:

I like it"un-enhanced". I might crop a little to emphasize the dogs facial expression, but not so much as to loose the "clutter" of the scene. Well taken and effectively tells a story...in my opinion. Nice!

Thank you for commenting, fourpar. Yes, it does seem to tell a story... or at least hint at a story. The more I look at it, the more I have to agree with you that a little cropping could give the image more impact.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Maybe a tiny trim, like below, but I think your composition as-is works just as well, and an argument could be made that the smaller the dog is in the frame, the more vulnerable it looks.

A difficult subject for me because I'm such a dog lover, and my current companion was rescued from the streets. You've captured an emotional scene for many of us.

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

fourpar has got this one 2c4. I played with the crop and it really helps. Good shot here. Thought about a lower perspective but you would not want to loose much of that sidewalk immediately around the dog.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Linda From Maine wrote:

Maybe a tiny trim, like below, but I think your composition as-is works just as well, and an argument could be made that the smaller the dog is in the frame, the more vulnerable it looks.

A difficult subject for me because I'm such a dog lover, and my current companion was rescued from the streets. You've captured an emotional scene for many of us.

Your crop suggestion is not bad! I will definitely take it into consideration before making any prints.

That's sometimes the tricky thing with crop selection... a little trim here or there can shift the emphasis of the image's message as well. A few days away from the image can sometimes help me decide which crop is most effective.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Frank2013 wrote:

fourpar has got this one 2c4. I played with the crop and it really helps. Good shot here. Thought about a lower perspective but you would not want to loose much of that sidewalk immediately around the dog.

After I left the scene, I thought I should have tried a lower perspective. But a lower perspective would have brought a lot of miscellaneous elements into the frame - vehicles, pedestrians, buildings, and who knows what else. A much more difficult shot to pull off, that's for sure.

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

rook2c4 wrote:

After I left the scene, I thought I should have tried a lower perspective. But a lower perspective would have brought a lot of miscellaneous elements into the frame - vehicles, pedestrians, buildings, and who knows what else. A much more difficult shot to pull off, that's for sure.

Totally understood.