Learn to Isolate - Project 52 - week 9

Our Project 52 week 9 challenge is to Learn to Isolate.  The instructions were to look at a few images from other photographers I love and ask what role does isolation play in the image.  I am drawn to images that are really close up and those that are monochromatic.   I knew immediately I wanted to take some really close up photos to isolate the eyes, nose or ears.  I thought this was going to be simple.  I was wrong.  I even pleaded for help to the Project 52 online group and thanks to Susannah for making a few suggestions. I was excited to begin taking photos but I struggled with getting the results I wanted.  I wanted to get really close to my subject but that created a few problems.  First problem:  Some dogs don't want a camera that close to them so that means I needed to find a subject that didn't care at all about my camera.  Enter super cute little chihuahua Sunny and dachshund Louis. :)  (FYI - I was hoping for a photo of even littler Lola, a white chihuahua who lives with Sunny and Louis but she was being a little camera shy.)  2nd problem which was harder than the first:    Determining which lens would be best to use.  I tried every lens I have.

This challenge is going to be one that I will continue to work on since I am drawn to photos that isolate different parts of a subject.

I love doing these weekly challenges because I always learn something and this past week was no exception.  I learned a lot about depth of field and how close I can physically be to my subject when I am photographing them to keep them sharp.  On Sunday of last week, I started working on this challenge and I learned more that Sunday about photography than I have in quite some time.

As a new photographer, I am still finding my way and identifying my own style.  This exercise really helped me take several steps forward with my own personal photography journey.

Next go to Little White Dog Pet Photography - Sioux Falls, SD  to read about her take on Learn to Isolate. Remember this is a blog circle so keep clicking the links at the end of each post.  Happy reading!

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye is so hard and yesterday I had to say goodbye to my client's much loved dog Dusty. I met Dusty on November 9, 2009 and I walked him pretty much every Monday through Friday since then. I was amazed when I looked back and saw that it had been 6 years. 6! No wonder this loss has hit me so hard. He was the best little guy ever and always such a happy dog. Dusty had a health scare 3 months ago and we knew his time with us was probably limited so we tried to enjoy every day we had with him.

I am so thankful that it stopped raining on Monday 11/9 and that Dusty and I had a nice walk. He couldn't see or hear well anymore but his legs and his nose both worked great. If there was a piece of chewing gum or other food on the ground, you can be assured that he would try and find it. Luckily for me he was pretty obvious about it so rarely did actually get to whatever it was he was trying to find.

When I think of Dusty, these things make me smile: 1. His name. Dusty Lovin. To most he was known as "Dusty Lovin", not "Dusty." 2. The brown spots on his white nose. I loved them. 3. The way his short tail would wag when I walked him. 4. His solid looking back legs and the way they slightly bowed when he walked. He always walked in front of me and I could see his little lets just going. They always looked so solid and coming from a mom of labs who tend to develop arthritis in their back legs, I always loved Dusty's. 5. His mom. She works a lot but she still left me a note almost every morning. Sometimes a thanks, sometimes have a nice weekend. 6. On that last day, when I rubbed his back, his little tail wagged. Thank you Dusty for that.

I love you and miss you Dusty.

'Don't be sad that it is over. Be happy that it happened.' Dr Suess

Pet Photography Class

Yesterday I took a pet photography class. The good news is in the past year since I bought my Nikon, I have learned a lot. The bad news is, I didn't learn as much as I'd hoped I would yesterday. For anyone interested in pet photography and taking better pics of your own pets, here is my advice. 1. Have a lot of patience. (They did stress this a lot in the pet photography class yesterday.) When trying to take pictures of pets, it is really important to remember this. I don't consider myself an overly patient person but somehow when I have my camera and I'm working with a dog, I have all the patience in the world. It comes naturally to me and that is a good thing. 2. Have someone there with you who knows the dog. A lot of dogs don't like a camera in their face and won't give you very "natural" looks. When I'm photographing my own dogs, I experience this. I get a blank stare not the goofy smile I want. Even when I am making weird noises, if I have my camera ready to snap a picture, they don't respond like they normally would. Of course all dogs are different and I will add, some are easier to photograph than others. If you have someone to help you, have them stand behind you or in the direction you want the dog to look and make funny noises to get those cute expressions. 3. Don't use the dog's name to get his attention. Most often the dog will come to you when you use his name. If you want him walking (or running) towards you, then go ahead and use his name but if you're trying to get him to hold a pose, I wouldn't recommend it. 4. Put your pet up on something - a brick or stone wall, a park bench, etc. (Keep the dog's safety in mind of course.) Sometimes you can have better luck getting a dog to pose when he is up on something. 5. Try to capture catch lights in his eyes. To do this, have him facing the light source (the sun, a lamp, etc.) If you are using your phone, you may end up with the green glowing eyes however. Warning: Once you get a great photo of your dog with catch lights in his eyes, any other photo you see of him and he doesn't have catch lights, you won't like. Or at least this is what has happened to me. It is sad... I've not found great pictures of Sloan or Sam (my previous dogs) that have great catch lights. I will continue looking... perhaps I have some somewhere. 6. If you're using a DSLR camera, set the camera to Aperture mode and at F8 or F11. Try to focus on the dog's nose, particularly if you have a dog with a long snout. At F8/F11, you should be able to keep the entire dog in focus. (This is easier with smaller dogs... less to keep in focus. Ha!) 7. If you're using a DSLR camera and you are wanting to be more creative, in Aperture mode use F5.6 and focus on the nose. Part of his body and the background will blur. **Steps 6 and 7 are very basic examples and there are a lot of other factors to be considered really such as: how far away are you from the dog, how far away is the dog from the background, is the dog moving, etc.) 8. Don't use the built in flash on your DSLR camera. Ever.

In the pet photography class yesterday, they talked a lot about taking pictures of pets inside in more of a studio setting. Unfortunately, that isn't the type of shooting I do nor do I really want to do (at least not yet.) To do studio or portrait photography, you really need two off camera flashes, set on stands, and set to fire wirelessly. The external flash for my camera is $500. Until I am ready to really explore this option, I'll stick with mainly outside photography. Although I did purchase a lens for low light photography (which is generally what I am doing when I am shooting indoors.) I do have a favorite picture of Moose that I shot indoors. It's posted below.

Here are a few more dogs I've seen recently (and these shots were all taken before the pet photography class yesterday.)