Wednesday 9 March 2011

photographing dogs

Penny stayed home last Monday when I went for an excursion with my photography class, but the teacher's dog had the privilege of going with us. And why not, given that he's such a lovely, well-behaved canine, willing to mooch around in a relaxed fashion?





We learned how to put our cameras down low near the surface of a pond or a puddle and get a symmetrical photo of and object. I tried this rock and was happy with the result.



And these reeds:



And Rocky himself was so photogenic.



So, when Penny and I went down to the river at Yarra Bend, I tried out my new technique as she swam for her toy.







Hmm... Looks like I'll either have to learn to take photos more quickly or I'll have to slow Penny down!

10 comments:

Mary said...

Obviously, practice makes perfect - or is it having the teacher nearby to inspire you?

Amber-Mae said...

Great pictures! Without any bright lights, pictures will tend to be smudgy if the camera or the subject isn't completely still. Sometimes hoomie Melissa would hold her breath just so that she can take a good, sharp picture without shaking the camera. A little bit of shake can make a picture blurry & out of focus.

parlance said...

Amber-Mae, your human is so right about the light. I think there was also a problem with the fact that the water in the river was moving. The technique works well with still water.

parlance said...

Mary, practice seems to have made me imperfect!

curator said...

Oh, I don't know, I thought they were perfectly full of life!

parlance said...

Curator, full of life, but not full of dog!

Slavenka said...

Sometimes it is really hard to take pictures of our pets.
From my practice, I understood that this is the simplest while they sleep.;)

parlance said...

Slavenka, that is so true! I'll have to sneak up on Penny when she's sleeping.

Unknown said...

Oh - lovely symmetrical shots!

Yes, photographing moving dogs is a nightmare. If the light is low (ie. not bright sunlight - even indoors light which seems bright to you is not usually enough) - then the pictures will always come out blurred. Esp action shots. And of course, your hands shaking.

I don't know what kind of camera you have but I find also that with the smaller cameras (not proper SLR) - they are just slow and not powerful enough so they need even more light to get a good, clear shot.

But it's a great challenge to keep trying! And with your own dog, you have the perfect model - I take MILLIONS of photos of Honey (thank God for digital!) and it's only practice that's made me much better...just practising action shots is a whole challenge in itself. Try going to the park (on a sunny day, not too late in the afternoon) and throwing something quite far away for Penny to go fetch or at least sniff and then try photographing her as she moves back towards you and see if you can get a crisp action shot of her running/walking!

Hsin-Yi

parlance said...

Hsin-Yi, thanks for the feedback. I'll try those ideas. I remember one of the other things you said one time was to make sure we photograph ourselves with our dogs. That's another thing I resolved to do, but I've just realised I haven't done so.