So what did the photographer do right?
Shooting in black and white makes this image a bit mysterious.
This angle is so striking and unusual even though we view our pets from about often.
The focus only on the nose gives the photo a fine art quality.
by Flickr Member Marcin Kargol
by Flickr Member ManWithAToyCamera
Digital senors and film are rated by the International Standards Organization (ISO) according to their relative sensitivity to light. We used to call this sensitivity “film speed” or “ASA” (American Standards Association), and it is still expressed as a number, with lower numbers indicating less sensitivity to light.
ISO/ASA 100 200 400 800 1600 3200
ISO, or film speed, is a setting to determine how quickly an image will be captured by either the film or digital sensor. The higher the ISO, the quicker the image will be captured and the less light that is required. The lower the ISO, the longer it takes for the image to be captured and the more light you will need.
ISO depends on your surroundings and the amount of light available.
It’s a good rule of thumb for digital cameras in general, to use:
100/200 outdoors, bright light
400 in the shade, overcast outdoors, inside with lots of light
800/1600 indoors, low-light conditions, sports or action.
The lower the film speed, the lower the digital noise (or film grain) and the higher the contrast. The higher you’re ISO, the more digital noise is created in the image and the lower the apparent contrast.
Now see that wasn’t so hard. If you ever have any questions please ask in the comment box below.
“Please Don’t Eat The Daisies”
© 2007 artpaw.com
I think one of the hardest lessons we have to learn when trying to get good photographs of our pets is to just relax and go with the flow. Kris has talked at length on this blog about patience and having fun. In trying to figure out what to write about today I looked through some of my own artwork and photography and this painting of my puppy Pixel jumped out at me as the perfect example of going with the flow.
Back in 07 when she was just a feisty young pup I decided I would buy a few daisies and take her out back and have her pose in a very “Hallmark Card” sort of way with one long stemmed daisy placed gently in her mouth. Well she had other ideas! As you can see from the digital painting above it all worked out ok anyway. I just kept shooting and allowed her to be her playful self. The result was way better that what I had imagined.
Any horse racing enthusiasts knows that a trifecta is predicting the horses that finish first, second and third in that order. The reason this analogy works is it takes THREE camera elements working together to capture an image.
Aperture or f/Stop controls focus
Shutter Speed controls movement
ISO or film speed controls light sensitivity
© rebecca collins
© rebecca collins
These shots were taken at our local dog park. I do not even know these adorable pups. When I shot these back in 09 I was focused for a few months just on doggy butts. I think shooting a pup from behind is a great way to play creatively and focus just on composition, story and mood. In these images there is only one story going on …water, water, and more water! I loved watching these dogs at play.
If you have a Great Dane or other large tall breed, consider laying on the ground and shooting up at them with the sky above, while they face away from you …. a photo like that may not be a traditional portrait, but it would tell a great story about a huge, larger than life sort of canine.
So what did the photographer do right?
The black coat on this dog has enough light to give it tons of detail.
The cropping is nice and keeps your attention.
The shallow depth of field makes you focus right on the tip of the nose then your eye travels up to the cute sunglasses.
by Flickr Member Hidde Beekman
by Flickr Member zen Sutherland
by Flickr Member Warren R.M. Stuart
by Flickr Member zhouxuan12345678
by Flickr Member Camera Eye Photography
by Flickr Member Libre comme l’oiseau / Free as a bird
In the next week or so I’ll be a tad more techie than usual talking about the fundamentals of photography. The word photography comes from the Greek words phos (“light”), and graphis (“draw”, “write”). When you are making pictures you are “drawing with light”.
Photography is the art of capturing and recording light. Your subject matter is important but it’s the use of light that tells the story and makes the image come to life. Yes, there are several elements that make up a photograph but without light none of it matters.
