[Summerleft]

Does the shadow work? I preferred it B+W as it had more of a melancholy feel

ISO 200 , F7.1, 1/30


oops deleted apologies, see image further down

[_MB_]

It's a good photo but I think more care with regard to little things like keeping the camera level would have helped.

I'd crop way down on this as to me the wedge made by the bottom of the shadow and your dogs paw should occupy much more of the frame. It looks like very bright sunlight, if you're aiming for melancholy I'd try to tone down the strong specular highlights coming off the fur, I'd also dodge and burn round the eye to make it a focal point.

hth

[Whipspeed]

Agree with the points MB has made. Also for me the door is a big distraction, I feel for this type of shot you need a clean blank background (not something I normally like, but feel would work well for this) The door frame also highlights the camera not being level.

Edit: Hubby has just come in and had a look. He thinks a long crop would work, but crop out the left to remove the bent leg and lengthened to the right, with the shadow on the door finishing in the top right hand corner, but with the detail of the door cropped out. Also the dodging and burning recommended by MB.

Sarah

[Summerleft]

Theres so many ways I could crop this but heres without the leg, but I feel it makes him look legless, have D+B as suggested.

[_MB_]

You still need to level it, or do a perspective crop or something. PM me if you want tips.

[Summerleft]

Left in some leg, unfortunately the image ended at the toe and really don't want to waste time cloning extra to the right etc. Straigtened although I liked it on a slant, not keen on conformity be better with whole toe in obviously.

[Whipspeed]

Better straighter, although it's a shame toe not in & I would still remove the verticle line of the door. As for straightness, conformity is pleasing to the eye in alot of composition, worth looking through some good art books for composition ideas.

[Summerleft]

Depends which group or camp your in really, plenty of differing ones.

[Whipspeed]

True, but if you look, the pictures your eye tends to be drawn to (or at least mine) are the pictures that you could say conform in some way or another to rules of composition, thirds or golden ratio, it may not be obvious at first, but you can usually see something.
With animals or any subject, you can place them in an angle in the frame, but not with say in this case a door frame behind them which makes it look out of kilter, if the background is plain, it can work better.