January 27, 2012 Learning Pet Photography 3

Olive, English Bulldog

On Wednesday afternoon, I photographed Olive, who belongs to friends, John and Barbara Crane. When I requested to photograph Olive, Barbara cautioned me that it might not work out as I hoped. Olive is an English Bulldog and I don't have much experience with this breed of dog so I just told her that we'd give it a try and see what happens.

Charming Olive: 1/2500 sec at f/4.5

Olive met me at the door and we became acquainted. She quickly lost interest in me which was good because it allowed me time to set up my camera and see where I might photograph her inside. The living room has high wide windows covering one wall and lets in all kinds of beautiful afternoon light. I thought it would be good to see if we could photograph her in that nice light. I used my SB600 flash on camera and I used my all around favorite lens: Nikkor 24-70 mm, f/2.8.
The 2.8 allows me to open up my aperture to let in all kinds of light and blurs the background somewhat. I used a tripod for all these shots.




Olive has a white coat, and I hoped to be able to find a background that would contrast with her white fur and, as luck would have it, the Crane's sofa is dark brown. I took some photographs of her on the couch facing the big windows.

Olive Inside: 1/320 sec. at f/2.8

Once John joined us, we went outside for some photos. We walked to a grassy area next to their building and Olive was patient and dignified as I took her picture. I think Olive might have enjoyed the attention for a bit because I was able to catch a happy expression on her face. Outside it was somewhat warm and humid so it wasn't long before Olive was panting. So, it was time to bring her inside. English Bulldogs don't need a whole lot of exercise, according to Wikipedia. I hoped to be able to capture her classic stature and stance.

When I got home and looked at the photos I was thrilled at what I was able to photograph not only her stature, but her wonderful nature. She exceeded my expectations. I hope to be able to photograph her again.

Olive strikes a classic pose: 1/2500 sec at f/3.5

Friday, January 27, 2012

January 23, 2012 Learning Pet Photography 2

Dylan resting in the grass

On Sunday, I was able to photograph Dylan, my sister's new Wheaten Terrier Puppy. What a cute little ball of fur he is! All that fur moving at such a fast and unpredictable rate is very difficult to photograph.  Most of the photos were a blur of fur. The photo below showing Margaret holding Dylan is a photo which shows the difficulty of trying to photograph anything that is moving very fast.

With my camera on a tripod, the flash attached to the camera and my reflector in hand, I waited patiently for the little puppy to run through my viewfinder. The puppy ran through the camera so fast I could not even focus.  I then realized that I better take the camera off the tripod and follow him around waiting for my picture. Margaret was pivotal in keeping him from running up the stairs which he all of a sudden was able to do. Margaret would hold out the toy and Dylan would play with it for about 2 seconds before he was off.

Margaret Holding the Blur of Dylan

One successful happening was walking the dog on a leash. Margaret took Dylan for a walk outside. I took the flash off the camera as we had wonderful diffused light in the overcast sky outside. Dylan posed for me in the middle of the road and looked right into the camera! Dylan also liked to rest in the grass and I was able to take a few photos as he rested.

Back inside, I put the flash back on and raised the ISO from 200 to 400 so that I could raise my shutter speed. The shutter controls how fast the aperture will stay open and when you are inside on a gray day, there is not much light available. You need to leave the shutter open longer to get enough light. But with the slower shutter speeds, you tend to get blur which is exactly what I got with Dylan. He is so quick, you need a quick shutter speed to get him in focus. That's where the ISO setting comes in. You set the ISO higher than 200 and that allows you to photograph at a faster shutter speed. It allows your camera to pick up the photo faster the higher the speed.

Dylan at rest

Is there a treat for me?

Laney also was there and I was able to get some really nice photos of her with her facing the window and another one with her head resting on the sofa arm rest.

Laney's beautiful profile

Laney gazing out the window

Stay tuned for next week's installment of Learning Pet Photography.

January 15, 2012 Pet Photography

Today, I had the opportunity to try out some of the suggestions learned in my pet photography class. When you photograph pets you need to get physically close to the animals, you need to look at the light as it falls on them and get soft light, you need to be calm and have patience. One aspect was stressed at the beginning. Pets are like people in that some of them like to be photographed and some don't. Take my cat Leo, for example, he is a cat that loves to be photographed. He poses,  preens and shows me his best.

Leo poses

Leo's eyes

Daisy Dog, however, sometimes is not such a fan. She cares a little but then she forgets.  Daisy is a good, sweet, cooperative dog. She will pose but in this shot she is distracted.

Daisy

Laney is my sister's dog and she is a dog who likes attention. She will bark to get you to look at her and pet her. Laney is pictured below.

Laney

Laney poses

 

Now Laney has a new little brother named Dylan. Dylan is a little fur ball and full of motion. He doesn't seem to mind the camera but he doesn't like flash.

Dylan

In order to get close to the pets, I sat on the floor. The little puppy was a furry ball of energy and he just needed to run around to get rid of some of his energy. I followed him around until he calmed down.  Laney was a surprise. She usually barks until she gets tired but she did not bark today. She is still getting used to the little puppy. So we gave her as much attention as we could and still enjoy the puppy. So, I got some very good shots of Laney near the window with nice light coming on her face and showing catchlights in her eyes.

Laney in a reflective mood

Good pictures of the puppy were hard to get but I did get one of Margaret nearly getting bit by the little tyke.


Eventually little Dylan just wanted to relax. So did we.

January 6, 2012

Atlantic Beach, Florida

Beach Diner Shirt

On our drive north on 95 from Orlando, we took a side trip through Atlantic Beach, FL and stopped at the Beach Diner on Atlantic Boulevard for breakfast. The diner has not changed and I took the opportunity to take a few photos of the inside just to remind my siblings of what it looks like.

Beach Diner Coffee Cup

Neptune Beach, Florida

Then, we drove over to Shelby’s to get a cup of coffee for the road and found out that Shelby’s is now Lillie’s Coffee Shop. It’s sad because we liked Shelby’s so much. They had great bagels and cream cheese. I had to try out a café latte and I got a bagel and cream cheese just to see if they were any good. They did a respectable job.

Shelby's is now Lillie's

Décor is a little different inside and out.

Shelby or Lillie's New Interior

We took our coffee and went over to gaze at the ocean before driving north toward 9A and home. We looked to the right as we passed by the Value Pawn sign that sits on the corner of Mayport Road and Atlantic. Maybe next year I can drive down to Fleet Landing.

Same old Jax Beach

 Over and out.

December 28, 2011 Christmas Wednesday

 

I had to drive through heavy fog on the Wednesday after Christmas 2011. I arrived at work, Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens (DSBG) early (8:30 AM) and it was somewhat warm.  The Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens is on land surrounded by Lake Wylie and fog on the lake is a common morning occurrence. However, the dense fog on this morning was very unusual.

The fog was enveloping everything, the sun was somewhat low in the sky and it gave an eerie feel to the buildings and trees. The best time to photograph a place you know well is when it is surrounded by fog or covered by snow because it looks so different. I love the photos that I got that morning.