I've taken lots of other shots (don't worry, I don't just sit in my backyard photographing my dog), however I wanted to work on my composition for shots like these (portraiture). I don't quite have a willing model at the moment.

I realize some of these shots are lacking. That's sort-of what I'm posting about: to get a little bit of composition help.

A couple problems I've had:
1) Editing is extremely difficult. I find my screen is so inaccurate that whatever I get in lightroom looks ridiculously different once I've exported it and view it online or in an imageviewer. It looks great in lightroom, then worse outside of lightroom.
2) My backyard sucks for light. A flash would be very beneficial...
3) My backyard is difficult overall. It's difficult getting a nice background while keeping the dog well lit for a portrait.

(I already realize that I'm not quite following the thirds rule on a lot of these shots).


http://imageshack.us/a/img12/4280/w29t.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img593/4033/odbf.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img42/15/li4d.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img163/5132/nx1r.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img41/8710/5y6z.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img829/324/13is.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img20/9093/gtm1.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img43/8757/a1f9.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img703/2696/e1sk.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img16/5787/mxjq.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img69/3561/r9it.jpg

http://www.buzzfeed.com/samimain/well-known-photographer-helps-animals-become-adopted

this might be helpful for you