Eri in BW

[Stoned]

Took out the camera today for the first time in a month! Yay! Here's my new dog Eri, which I adopted after she followed me home. I know animal pictures are normally done in colour, but I decided to shoot some of her in monochrome for fun. I can always do colour ones in another session heh.

Here's the main photo for CnC:

And another one from the mini 5 minute shoot just to share, rather than post it somewhere else.

 

[jdredd]

is this scanned or converted digital? theres a bit of a bluish cast. doesnt really give the feel of a true black and white photo.

 

[Stoned]

It's converted digital. The cast is probably due to my amateur toning skills, but I favour this cool tone, which you might notice if you take a look at some of my other BnW images, so I left it as it is. Doesn't work for you huh.

 

[DT_]

needs more black tone...

 

[raptor84]

I agree that its needs a little more contrast and black tones to give it that punch.

For all animals the main draw point is always the eyes. (unless its an unorthadox crop) . For the first pic the body draws attention away form the eyes as it is still mianly of focus and seems to blend in with the face. The aobve eye level perspective still works as the dog is giving that loving gaze which seems to suit this perspective. A little more contrast with the eyes and less DOF for the isolation would work here IMHO.


For the second shot that cupboard is a distraction to me as it makes a line above the head. I would have waited for the dog to prick its ears up(or foward if they are floppy) to give is more volume. I can see the dog is relaxed now with the ears folded back but it makes the head look odd and elongated.

I like the shot in your avatar the most acutally

 

[Pablo]

Hi stoned,

Havn't seen a post from you for a while "might have missed them :dunno: ".

Can I make an observation ? not a technical one photography wise but rather dog wise.....

Does your dog tend to bump into things ??? because in the second photo he looks a little cross eyed.

Just kidding stoned .....

Have great times with your new lifelong friend :thumbsup:

 

[Stoned]

Thanks all for the comments and especially raptor84 for the tips! I'm totally new at pet photography because she's my first pet. I suppose I'll have quite a lot of time to practise since the subject is at home heh.

Raptor, any tips on getting her to sit still? She always comes over somehow, so I have to close the gate and snipe from there.

Pablo, I haven't been posting because I haven't been shooting due to a thing in Singapore called NS, where you have to write off two years of life serving the nation. I wish I could shoot and post more but I can't quite as I only have about 20 odd hours free each week and family and friends takes up most of this precious time.

 

[raptor84]

You can try doing some basic obedience training using dog treats to teach her to sit and stay? Normally for dogs that are not well trained i just take candids. What i do is just squat or kneel down and let to dog smell/sniff the camera and me tog et used to it. Initially the dog will be more inquisitive and smell and try to lick you and/or your camera (filters saved the front element form saliva more than once, hoods too). Once they get bored of you they will start to do their own things which is when you can start snapping.

Its more difficult if you are the owner as the act of squatting down is a friendly invitation to 'play' (they lower their heads with the front paws outstretched as a play-bow) so they might not settle down as fast. You can try to get a relative to make the dog sit/stay or direct the gaze for you. Most of the time I rely on another person to help me direct the gaze or position of the dog. Generally though canids are the best as the dog is at ease and you can capture behaviour that is part of their character which may not show in those standard posed shots.

 

[Stoned]

You can try doing some basic obedience training using dog treats to teach her to sit and stay? Normally for dogs that are not well trained i just take candids. What i do is just squat or kneel down and let to dog smell/sniff the camera and me tog et used to it. Initially the dog will be more inquisitive and smell and try to lick you and/or your camera (filters saved the front element form saliva more than once, hoods too). Once they get bored of you they will start to do their own things which is when you can start snapping.

Its more difficult if you are the owner as the act of squatting down is a friendly invitation to 'play' (they lower their heads with the front paws outstretched as a play-bow) so they might not settle down as fast. You can try to get a relative to make the dog sit/stay or direct the gaze for you. Most of the time I rely on another person to help me direct the gaze or position of the dog. Generally though canids are the best as the dog is at ease and you can capture behaviour that is part of their character which may not show in those standard posed shots.

Thanks man, will give it a shot again sometime. My dog loves to lick people and she can go on until the saliva is literally dripping from your arm or leg. So far I've had to resort to sniping her through the grill of the front door, which is why you get the cupboard in the background.