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photography finesse

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#1 ·
Many of you are fantastic photographers...what is the secret to getting a good photo of a jet-black dog with jet-black eyes?

I have an unsophisticated digital camera but it does have variable settings.

All of your suggestions welcome!
 
#2 ·
Also,
How in the heck do you get them to be still for a photograph????
Kay and Winn Dixie
 
#6 ·
these are the only times I can get a photo of Sam... (With my point and shoot, my SLR gets decent action shots!)

1. He is lying down and comfy... or asleep! :lol:
2. Someone is holding him/ telling him to sit...
3. When he is... naw that's about it!

Does the camera have a sport or indoor setting?
The sport setting is great outside.
With an indoor setting, the shutter is slower so it might be hard to get a clean shot, but a flash can help stop motion.

Our previous baby was jet black and photos of him just looked like a black lump... Mostly you couldn't see his snout just the outline of a head and two tiny shiny spots for eyes. :lol:
 
#7 ·
Max takes the best pics when

1. snow is the background or has a bit of snow on his coat
2. holding a treat up
3. room is properly lit/bright and he's laying down "thinking"

other than that, its sheer luck
 
#12 ·
Having both a light colored doodle and a black doodle...the black doodle is definately the hardest one to get a good photograph of. I have taken the best shots of him outside...and like Gene said, it's pure luck with me, too. Definately helps to have two people so that one of you can maybe stand behind the picture taker with a favorite toy or treat. One interesting thing about the black dogs is that unfortunately many rescues will tell you that they are sometimes the hardest to adopt and they think part of the reason is because if they are posting pictures of them on their websites, they don't always photograph as well as lighter colored dogs. It's too bad, because the black doodles (and other dogs) are absolutely gorgeous in real life. The black doodle I have was from a rescue and initially the girl did not want to show me the picture of him before I saw him because she couldn't get a shot that would do him justice!!

By the way, Jodi, your avatar picture is ADORABLE!! :D
 
#16 ·
Great ideas, thanks!
The avatar is the best photo I have--and it is one of the first ones I took. Beginner's luck! The rest look like photos of the Black Blob!

Maybe the planets will align again and I can post a few more pix...
 
#17 ·
Doggonecrazy said:
I've gotten the best results with natural light and overcast days outside with a "sport" setting.
Yup, natural light and overcast (but bright) days are great. You'll be able to get a softer, more detailed photo than you would in direct sunlight. Black fur tends to reflect a lot of light, so camera flashes don't work well. (And you get the dreaded red-eye). If its a sunny day, you can go under a lightly shaded tree to take photos. Early morning light is also nice.

It also helps to put your pup against a background that isn't too bright or reflective. A black dog in front of a tan colored wall will photograph better than one in front of a white wall. Light grey is a great background color. (Portrait photographers often use backdrops of non-reflective gray paper.) :)
 
#18 ·
Doggonecrazy said:
I've gotten the best results with natural light and overcast days outside with a "sport" setting.
I agree with this, but I also like to take advantage of early morning and evening light. The worst, most bland and boring pictures are taken with the sun directly overhead.

Depending on the camera, you can use the "sport" setting or manually set a very fast shutter speed to catch that doodle in action. And a lot of affordable cameras can shoot a "burst" of photos as you hold the shutter down. The nice thing about digital "film" is it's free. Shoot 100 pics and if only one or two are "keepers", so what? Delete all those boring and out of focus shots. I usually take around 500 pictures each weekend and save about 20. Out those 20 I will print one or two.

The other key to good photos is taking some time to make adjustments with ANY digital image editing software. I highly recommend Picassa 2 which is a free download from Google. I use it at work to index my archives of tens of thousands of real estate photos.

A more powerful step up is Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. Shop around and you can find it for around $60 USD. With this software you can turn the worst photo into an acceptable one, turn a good photo into a spectacular one, and do cool tricks like making dogs appear to be jumping through flaming hoops.

Photoshop Elements has powerful adjustment tools needed to bring out the details of a dark dog's fur and eyes and put some "punch" into a "flat" photo.

If anyone needs help with digital photos I'd be glad to try. I've been editing and retouching real estate photos for the last ten years so I've gotten pretty good at turning a "basket case" photo into a keeper. Just PM me.

Here's a shot of Ozzie's buddy taken in the morning light. I printed this at 13 x 19 inches.

 
#19 ·
sessa35 said:
Are you suggesting that Mija didn't actually jump through that flaming hoop??!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :wink: :wink: :wink:
P.S. Aren't we are spoiled with our beautiful light (and lack of at night :wink:) in New Mexico!?!

:D :D
What that flaming hoop photo doesn't tell you is that Mija is actually jumping backwards, tail end first! Now THAT's a trick!

Ozzie loves getting up early with me and we play a little fetch and watch the hot air balloons floating overhead (my neighborhood is a favorite turnaround point for the famed "Albuquerque Box" wind currents). Great photo opps.

**For you non-Nuevo Mexicanos, Albuquerque is home to the largest annual hot air balloon festival in the world, due mainly to the natural air currents. It's a perfect climate for hot air ballooning.**
 
#23 ·
Most of the time if you hold the shutter button halfway on a point and shoot the camera flash will charge up and you can snap the photo faster by pushing it all the way at the right time...
Otherwise the flash takes time to charge, etc...
 
#24 ·
I have pro photo equipment and I have the same problem with my dark chocolate doodle.

First thing that helps is a light colored or contrasting background and the second would be bright lighting or a good flash.
 
#25 ·
pictures

The Best way to insure youll catch the moment is to have the camera attached to you at all times.Those Doodle moments happen and when they do ,you just have to be ready and think fast and CLICK take a PIC.
hahaha
:wink:
 
G
#26 ·
Gorgeous portrait Chas! And Vasessa, at least he didn't say this about your photo:
With this software you can turn the worst photo into an acceptable one...
:lol: That would be my photos :lol:
I am VERY JEALOUS of the beautiful light you have in NM. I never had a clue what people meant when they talked about special 'light' til I moved to Arizona. The light is just different there...and I MISS IT!!!!!
 
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