DNG to jpeg Translation in PS Elements 4.0, Cropped, Magic Wand Tool, Smudge Tool, Blur Tool, Enhanced Hue/Saturation, Despeckle, Dust & Scratches, Reduce Noise, Sharpened Edges, Duplicate Layer, High Pass @ Vivid Light Blending, Omni-Lights Over Each Eye, and Bridge of the Nose in Separate Layers With Master Opacity Changes to Blend The Three Together, Master Opacity Change to 73%, Merge Down, USM, Resized, Saved for Web...
Statistics
Place: 106 out of 115 Avg (all users): 4.6957 Avg (commenters): 8.0000 Avg (participants): 4.3111 Avg (non-participants): 4.8817 Views since voting: 737 Views during voting: 218 Votes: 138 Comments: 2 Favorites: 0
This image did not score too high so let's see what could have been improved.
Composition
There two large objects, pretty much centered. No tension or dynamics in the composition. You did place the main subject - the eyes - on the thirds line. Good. Otherwise the 'horizon' (so to speak) is dead center. Moving your camera or your cropping so that strong horizontal lines are not centered can help alot.
Focus.
Nothing in the image seems to really be in focus except the eyes, which I assume are that way via post processing. The background (ears, hair) being out of focus is OK, but the dog is also out of focus. Perhaps the slow shutter speed hurt you and it is not just a DOF issue. Some arifical light to boost your shutter speed and to help lower your ISO would have helped.
Eyes
I can see you worked hard to get the eyes to pop and they do. But....perhaps too much. Perhaps your selection around the whites was not feathered enough or you used the wrong selection tool, because the whites seem very straight edged and unnatural. Getting the eyes just right is very hard. I find using the color selction tool provides a more natural selection that allows the whites to fade at the edges. Try bringing out the reflections in the pupils as well. As in all post processing, the key is to do it so it is not noticed. Once an effect is noticable, then it is too much.
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