Taking photos of my sisters puppy this weekend - recommendations ??

weaponx525 · 09-03-2008, 10:30 AM

Hello all

I have volunteered to take photos of my sisters 4 week old puppy this weekend and would like some advice. He'll be wearing some demo line of clothing so there is some pressure to make these photos print quality. In particular the conditions will most likely be sunny as I will be taking photos in the mid-afternoon.

I need advice as I am concerned about taking photos that will seem "washed out" or photos that have that white cast to them due to being too sunny (contrast control?). I would like to take photos at large apertures (f4 or lower) as I hope to be primarily using my FA50mm lens as it is my sharpest lens. I do not own a polarizer for my 50mm but I do own a UV filter. I could possibly opt to use my 18-55mm kit lens and/or my 55-200mm zoom where I do own a polarizer and UV filter. I am not that experienced with PP so I am hoping to keep these photos straight JPG.

Any helpful hints would be appreciated. TIA.

*Canada_Rockies* · 09-03-2008, 12:54 PM

I would suggest that the 55-200 will be the better of your lenses to use. With a four week old puppy, you don't want to have the lens right up in its face. Either it will freak out and run, or lick the front element, neither of which will give you a "keeper" image. With children and pets, I firmly believe that distance is a real help.

*Igilligan* · 09-03-2008, 02:02 PM

If it was me and the pics were gonna be important...

I would go down to one of the hardware/sport/retail stores and pic up a 10' x10 pop up tent with a white roof on it. They are all closing out their summer stock right now. They give you some great shade but act like a giant light tent...

That would be my rookie advice...

Good luck with the Fashion Dogs

*Venturi* · 09-03-2008, 02:47 PM

That's a pretty cool idea with the tent, Gus. I heard you were smart, now there's some proof!

rfortson · 09-03-2008, 03:31 PM

I agree with the 50-200 lens suggestion. Also, I'd try to avoid high sunlight. It will make proper exposure really tough. On the other hand, you'll never get a puppy to sit still, so you're going to have to shoot him/her running around. I'd suggest getting something photogenic for the puppy to chase/play with. That way, you may have some pattern or predictability to plan your shots.

Either way, take a whole lotta shots, way more than you think you'll need. Also shoot in raw as it will be your friend in any tough exposure situations. I'd bump up the ISO a tad so that you can also bump up the shutter speed to catch the puppy running around.

Good luck!

<edit> I just noticed the 50 f/1.4 in your list. You could try that lens as well so that you can get a faster shutter speed. However, you'll have to watch your depth of field with that lens. I'd shoot it at f/2.8 or so to help out a little while still using some of the speed of the lens.

weaponx525 · 09-03-2008, 04:23 PM

Thank you for all the great replies and suggestions (another reason that I love these forums

)

If some of these pictures do turn out with that white cast to them, how can that be fixed by PP? Is it Contrast control or should I be stopping down the lens (smaller apertures?

flyer · 09-03-2008, 04:58 PM

Also, try to take the pictures at a height that's about the same as the dog's head, otherwise the dog will look kind of "squashed" and the perspective will seem poor. You should also try to use a flash (on board or otherwise) to give the eyes some catch light and open up the shadows in the dog face. If you set flash compensation to -1, it will look natural. And take LOTS of pictures,since at least half of them will be blurred or out of focus due to animals unpredictability.

KrisK10D · 09-04-2008, 06:23 AM

You'll really need someone else there to help ya (your sister I guess). She'll be able to give puppy some treats to get him to be still for .79 of a second then take the shot just before he finishes and runs off.

My puppy was a bugger... used to chew while hoping around like some rabid bunny

*Jun Park* · 09-04-2008, 07:29 AM

I have a black lab-ish mutt and a chocolate lab and the can give the meter fits so I would really recommend you use a grey card and manual exposure. If the puppy is dark and the outfit is light, you may need to bracket the exposure. Good luck and have fun!

Originally Posted by weaponx525

Hello all

I have volunteered to take photos of my sisters 4 week old puppy this weekend and would like some advice. He'll be wearing some demo line of clothing so there is some pressure to make these photos print quality. In particular the conditions will most likely be sunny as I will be taking photos in the mid-afternoon.

I need advice as I am concerned about taking photos that will seem "washed out" or photos that have that white cast to them due to being too sunny (contrast control?). I would like to take photos at large apertures (f4 or lower) as I hope to be primarily using my FA50mm lens as it is my sharpest lens. I do not own a polarizer for my 50mm but I do own a UV filter. I could possibly opt to use my 18-55mm kit lens and/or my 55-200mm zoom where I do own a polarizer and UV filter. I am not that experienced with PP so I am hoping to keep these photos straight JPG.

Any helpful hints would be appreciated. TIA.

spillway · 09-04-2008, 11:41 AM

I just took a few of our 8 week old puppy in the sun.

I shot using RAW, so that I could do as much PPing as possible. In the first one, you can see that
the whites are pretty washed out, no matter what I did.

In the second one, we were in the sun, but I got pretty low and used the side of her face that was
in the shadow.

In the third one, we moved to the shadows.

Good luck. We gave our puppy some exercise beforehand, so she wasn't completely 'full of it'.

Good luck!

IsaacEastgate · 09-04-2008, 11:55 AM

50mm 1.4 for certain. if you can get the puppy to hold still it will make some excellent portraits

*roentarre* · 09-04-2008, 03:49 PM

Originally Posted by weaponx525

If some of these pictures do turn out with that white cast to them, how can that be fixed by PP? Is it Contrast control or should I be stopping down the lens (smaller apertures?

It is better to get it right to start with. Contrast is something dependent on the light angles and the lens you use.

My thoughts on this type of shot would be approaching the subject with a lower angle parallel to the puppy. Better to have lighting coming from the sides instead from above (morning or afternoon). Contrary to others, I would love to use 50mm with aperture set around f2 or so. So you could get a bit of dreamy feel to the shot.

PP could just select image - contrast or if you want to be more selective, select with lasso tool using feather 50X or so and alter the contrast.

Sometimes level control by shifting grey bar to the left also works like a treat.

*nulla* · 09-04-2008, 06:15 PM

I agree with Roentarre

My thoughts on this type of shot would be approaching the subject with a lower angle parallel to the puppy. Better to have lighting coming from the sides instead from above (morning or afternoon). Contrary to others, I would love to use 50mm with aperture set around f2 or so. So you could get a bit of dreamy feel to the shot.

I would also have someone to move around behind and sides of you with something to gain the puppies attention, even a whistle ... this will help for some great shots

weaponx525 · 09-04-2008, 08:00 PM

All the suggestions are much appreciated! I wish that I can remember them all in the heat of the moment. I fully planned on using my fast 50, especially at larger apertures but I was concerned with washing out my images, especially in the bright afternoon.

roentarre, thank you for the PP advice but it kinda went over my head as I have little to no experience in PP. I do paly with the options during RAW conversion but that is the extent of my PP experience. Anyway, thank you again. If I am allowed, I will post some pics. TIA

weaponx525 · 09-07-2008, 11:20 PM

I want to thank you all for all the advice. I just finished taking the pics and it turned out to be a family outing only. Anyway, here are some of my pics.