[Konotashi]

Some pics I took of Ozzy and Aiden. Aiden wasn't really cooperating at all and Ozzy was being a pain in the butt, but I got a couple decent ones.

Oh, and I put a white sheet over the lights and it helped a ton. I didn't have to mess with them as much.

Aiden.

 

[DJEtzel]

Very nice pictures! The one of Aiden and the last of Ozzy are my favorites.

What kind of lights are you using(and what camera do you have?)?

Are you getting into photography as a career? Hobby?

I'm switching my major and minors and I'm going to be minoring in photography as my second minor, so I've been delving more into photography lately.

 

[Konotashi]

They're just floodlights (I think?) in the light shades with clamps. When I set everything up again I'll take pics of the setup and stuff.

I want to do it professionally. I'd love to do pet portraits. Hopefully I'd be able to work with all kinds of animals.

For these I use my mom's Canon Rebel XTi.

 

[Konotashi]

Forgot this one. Haha, oops.

 

[Melina]

Glad to see you tried my suggestion with the "diffusion" material. The shots look great, definitely an improvement! (Not that the ones before were bad). Keep messing with that sheet, see what kind of effects you can get when you increase/decrease distances between it and your light source! Not too bad as far as color balance goes. The sharpness is great! It's hard getting moving objects (In your case Dogs) in focus using hot lights (Flood lights) and not strobes. Good job!

 

[Konotashi]

I have to have the ISO set really high and the shutter speed is set low. (Much lower than I'd like). But I like the results I'm getting so far, so I'm not complaining.

But if I want to take pics of Tesla (ferret) I'm going to need a bit more powerful lights because he does NOT sit still. LOL

 

[Melina]

I also want to add:


Do you do any post work in Photoshop or something of the sort? If you do, you can mess with the curves to adjust contrast and bring in more detail in the shadows. First, however, you have to make sure your exposure is correct to obtain detail in the shadows in the first place. Rule of thumb:

-Expose for the shadows, develop (Tweak in Photoshop) for the highlights.


That means ensure you adjust your exposure when you're shooting so that you have detail in those shadow areas. It doesn't matter if the highlights (Lighter areas) look blown out as you're going to bring them back down in Photoshop when you adjust the curves.

Does that make any sense? If you expose for the highlights, the shadows will be too dark and you'll lose all that information. You'll never be able to get it back no matter how much you adjust in post...

 

[Melina]

I have to have the ISO set really high and the shutter speed is set low.

As far as your ISO is concerned, you're not getting a ridiculous amount of noise, so I think it's okay...


If you're shooting at such a slow shutter speed, that means you must be stopped down pretty far. Why not open up your aperture so you can speed up your shutter speed and freeze your dogs? It will be much easier that way. You already have a shallow depth of field as it is.

 

[Konotashi]

I do some post-editing, yes. Mostly for the contrast though. I like darker pics with dramatic contrast. Some pics need it more than others. Like in the one of Aiden I forgot, on the entire part that's just black, you could tell the sheet was there. I just burned it so it looked black. It's mostly simple stuff I edit, but sometimes I'll do the harder stuff.

 

[Konotashi]

As far as your ISO is concerned, you're not getting a ridiculous amount of noise, so I think it's okay...


If you're shooting at such a slow shutter speed, that means you must be stopped down pretty far. Why not open up your aperture so you can speed up your shutter speed and freeze your dogs? It will be much easier that way. You already have a shallow depth of field as it is.

It's set on the lowest f-stop it can go to with this lens, I think.

The ISO is set at 1600 (and I'm amazed the pics don't look like they were sandblasted), the f-stop is at 4.5, and I adjust the shutter speed between 25 - 50.

 

[Melina]

It's set on the lowest f-stop it can go to with this lens, I think.

The ISO is set at 1600 (and I'm amazed the pics don't look like they were sandblasted), the f-stop is at 4.5, and I adjust the shutter speed between 25 - 50.

You're shooting with a tripod then, I take it? I'm amazed anything is in focus with that shutter speed. How close are the lights? If you're shooting that wide open, the only other option is to move the light source as close as possible to your subject...

 

[Konotashi]

I'm shooting free-hand. I don't like shooting without a tripod when the shutter speed is under 60, but I've been getting good results thus far. I'm really close. Everything is a few feet from everything. I'm about a foot from whoever I'm taking a pic of and the light is no more than a foot or two away.

 

[Melina]

Sorry, went to bed early last night. It's easier than staying awake thinking about cigarettes when you're trying to quit right now.


If you're shooting under a 60th it's always best to use a tripod, I know it sucks with moving objects, but you're so much more likely to get things in focus. You may think you have a steady hand, but there's a lot to factor in, just your breathing can shift focus. A monopod can be a lot easier to maneuver than a tripod, if you're than opposed.

As far as lights are concerned, it doesn't sound as though you're really able to move them any closer, so you'll just have to keep doing what you're doing I guess.

Regardless, you're getting some good shots, especially for the equipment you're working with! :thumbup:

 

[Stosh]

Have you seen Tim Flach's books? He's got one of dog portraits, one of horses too. He's a fabulous animals photographer- you're not so bad yourself!! Love the Oz Man pictures.