My dog this time... c&c

[julia4480]

hi guys, please don't get sick of me. I am practicing ( and getting frustrated while doing so!)! LOL. I played tonight with my puppy who lovingly indulges me every time. I upped the ISO to ISO 800 and also turned on more lights. F 5.6 and shutter speed at 1/2 sec, which still seems low to me but this was the best result I got. This is not a shot for composition, just pure technique, as I am wanting to get good at the indoor, dark outside shots. I believe I used manual focus in this one.

She is looking at a treat laying in front of her. I wish she had lifted her head a little, but like I said, this was just a practice my settings.

 

[AJake]

What I love about this, is the reflection in the dogs eyes. I can give no C&C because I am a noob myself, but I do like this picture.

 

[julia4480]

What I love about this, is the reflection in the dogs eyes. I can give no C&C because I am a noob myself, but I do like this picture.

Thank you so much Ajake!

 

[Tulsa]

I cannot tell where the focus is, doesnt look like its on his eyes, possibly on the top of his snout, the first thought I had was, the whole photo is out of focus, but I think the focused area is just off. I would like to see more out of the dog, a better expression or more of his eyes. The downward shot with him looking down I think is hurting it.

 

[jackieclayton]

cute pup...

when you shot in manual exposure, did you get a good reading? (did it look something like this in the viewer? +-----------0---------------) what mode are you metering in?

in indoor/dark/night situations... lighting is crucial and will be your best friend. add more light in this scene and it will help your picture.

 

[julia4480]

I cannot tell where the focus is, doesnt look like its on his eyes, possibly on the top of his snout, the first thought I had was, the whole photo is out of focus, but I think the focused area is just off. I would like to see more out of the dog, a better expression or more of his eyes. The downward shot with him looking down I think is hurting it.

yea I was playing with manual focus.... and she was looking at a treat lol... I totally didn't take this for composition or anything, just for exposure practice...

thanks tulsa!!

 

[myfotoguy]

Oh yeah, that reflection is nice. I'm impressed it's this sharp at 1/2 second. I wish I could hold my camera that steady. The Auto White Balance seems to have done pretty good. You might try incadescent, just to see how it compares, the image looked a little warm to me (calibrated monitor), but not by much. I wouldn't want it to be much less warm.

What picture contorl are you using? Do the colors match what the dogs are pretty good?

The exposure looks pretty good. Cute dog!

Here's a lisght change the the white balance to see how it compares.

 

[julia4480]

cute pup...

when you shot in manual exposure, did you get a good reading? (did it look something like this in the viewer? ------------0---------------)

in indoor/dark/night situations... lighting is the most important thing and will be your friend. add more light in this scene and it will help your picture.

LOL looks like you beat me to it. I just replied in my other thread!

yes... I check the reading! And it looked just like that! i had my lights on in my living room ( the ones on the ceiling, three bulbs) and a light on my side table to her right ...

 

[julia4480]

Oh yeah, that reflection is nice. I'm impressed it's this sharp at 1/2 second. I wish I could hold my camera that steady. The Auto White Balance seems to have done pretty good. You might try incadescent, just to see how it compares, the image looked a little warm to me (calibrated monitor), but not by much. I wouldn't want it to be much less warm.

What picture contorl are you using? Do the colors match what the dogs are pretty good?

The exposure looks pretty good. Cute dog!

Here's a lisght change the the white balance to see how it compares.

Hey, thank you so much. I played with my tripod, too, quite frankly, Idk if it was handheld at that point in time. Not sure what you mean by incandescent... I only have little symbols on my white balance menu LOL!! I need to reread my manual!

What do you mean by picture control?

And yes, the colors match her very well.

 

[jackieclayton]

I cannot tell where the focus is, doesnt look like its on his eyes, possibly on the top of his snout, the first thought I had was, the whole photo is out of focus, but I think the focused area is just off. I would like to see more out of the dog, a better expression or more of his eyes. The downward shot with him looking down I think is hurting it.

ya, but she has her fstop somewhat high (5.6, i think on that lens that might be about as wide open as it goes)... so her DOF is going to be much more narrow. If she has more light available she'd be able to take her fstop down a few stops to an 8 or 11 and her area of focus wont be so shallow.

 

[julia4480]

@ jackie ... I metered in pattern mode. I am not sure what that means tho.

You guys ROCK!

 

[julia4480]

I cannot tell where the focus is, doesnt look like its on his eyes, possibly on the top of his snout, the first thought I had was, the whole photo is out of focus, but I think the focused area is just off. I would like to see more out of the dog, a better expression or more of his eyes. The downward shot with him looking down I think is hurting it.

ya, but she has her fstop somewhat high (5.6, i think on that lens that might be about as wide open as it goes)... so her DOF is going to be much more narrow. If she has more light available she'd be able to take her fstop down a few stops to an 8 or 11 and her area of focus wont be so shallow.

SO, if I stop down a few, that means I can focus more on something specific like her eyes? So.. more light, more focussed area by stopping down?

 

[jackieclayton]

cute pup...

when you shot in manual exposure, did you get a good reading? (did it look something like this in the viewer? ------------0---------------)

in indoor/dark/night situations... lighting is the most important thing and will be your friend. add more light in this scene and it will help your picture.

LOL looks like you beat me to it. I just replied in my other thread!

yes... I check the reading! And it looked just like that! i had my lights on in my living room ( the ones on the ceiling, three bulbs) and a light on my side table to her right ...

Incadesent is the little bulb on the WB menu.

just blindly guessing here... but i wonder if you took that lamp and positioned it in front of her instead of on her right or left side... that way her face is clearly illuminated. you need to be able to bounce that light in some way (light travels in a straight line and will reflect what ever color it hits... so idealy, take the lamp shade off because its not doing anything but containing the light in this case and casting off whatever color the shade is) and find a solid white card that you can position over the light to bounce and hit her face directly. Like I said, just guessing here...

 

[jackieclayton]

I cannot tell where the focus is, doesnt look like its on his eyes, possibly on the top of his snout, the first thought I had was, the whole photo is out of focus, but I think the focused area is just off. I would like to see more out of the dog, a better expression or more of his eyes. The downward shot with him looking down I think is hurting it.

ya, but she has her fstop somewhat high (5.6, i think on that lens that might be about as wide open as it goes)... so her DOF is going to be much more narrow. If she has more light available she'd be able to take her fstop down a few stops to an 8 or 11 and her area of focus wont be so shallow.

SO, if I stop down a few, that means I can focus more on something specific like her eyes? So.. more light, more focussed area by stopping down?

meaning you'd be able to get a wider focal range... instead of only being able to focus in on his eye and the rest become blurry you'd be able to focus on his entire face persay, and then the background becomes softer. Dont get confused when i say "stop down a few" that really means a higher number (with aperture its backwards... low number = high fstop... high number is a low fstop).

 

[julia4480]

Good idea. I will def. try that next time!