In the four years since Terry Scheller and I have been operating our pet portraiture business called Sisters Pet Pics, we have accrued many tips and tricks to capturing what we think are compelling studio pet portraits. It is my intent to post many of those tips right here and hopefully you’ll post some of yours. We hope many of you join us in the conversation.
If you are considering an appointment to have your pet photographed in our studio, use the drop-down menu under Categories, in the left side-bar, to sort for available backdrops.
Perhaps you’d just like to engage in dialog about photography. Upload your pictures to Photobucket or Flickr and post a link here for critique and/or discussion or just talk about mine. Tell us your level of skill and how thick or thin skinned you are about critique and the rest of us promise to act accordingly. The purpose here is for all of us to improve. It is my belief that the day I cease to learn is the day I must hang up my camera, for then I only take up space, I would no longer add value to the cosmos.
When posting a photo it’s best to give us as much information as possible:
• Exif data – speed, aperture, ISO – this is Exchangeable Image File data and can be found any number of ways depending upon the camera and editing tools you use. If you are using any of the Adobe Suites you can find this data easily in Adobe Bridge on the Metadata tab. Of course in camera you can find it on the menu items. In any case, do what you can to share this as you will learn more by understanding your captures.
• Camera, lens info
• Flash information – many of you will be posting photos from field work, as will I, but tell us about the conditions of the day
There are many forums dedicated to photography and I have learned much from them. In future posts I will be noting some of the forums I find most useful. But this blog is meant to give due respect to pet photography and pet photographers, as those images may be deemed less important than those of human portrait artists. Domestic animals such as dogs, cats, horses, birds, ferrets, rabbits, fish, mice, rats, snakes, turtles and all those creatures we may love are welcomed here. Our only purpose is to help you improve those images so when you look at them years later you may almost feel the texture of their coats and remember the love.
You will notice my topics of the day will range from the very technical issues of photography to deliberations of what is beauty. We will also discuss all manner of topics having to do with our daily lives with the animals we love. Jump in any time and who knows, we all may learn something.
Okay fellow pet photographers; let’s add value to the cosmos together!
So excited to find your site. We have added you blog to our blog roll on our dogblog, A Dog’s Eye View.
Also will want to add a note about your website and blog to BestDogBlog.com. Please let us know if you would like to be a guest blogger. Photography and dogs are high on our list of things that make us smile.
Julie and Maggie (Canine Contributor)
Nice Blog
is it possible to change my avatar? it looks so mean
Yep there is:
Avatars: This site recognizes any globally recognized avatar, so when you apply one it will show up here. Go to http://en.gravatar.com/ and click “Sign Up Now” for a free account and you can upload any image you want and it will follow you when you visit other internet tubes
Please be patient with me, when I right click to Paste, a box comes up about copyright, not permitting me to do that So I press Control V, that worked. This is a great photo the Sisters took at Mardi Paws, one of my favorite photos EVER! But, the people were in the background. So I removed them with Photoshop. I am a better Editor than Photographer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38989541@N08/3628077993/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38989541@N08/3628890464/in/set-72157619687410053/
No patience required, you’re doing fine
Yes, it’s unfortunate that we were not able to secure the area to provide snap shots without the errant folks in them. But you did a great job with your editing.
I disabled the right-click option on this site because I found my work all over the internet webs being sold for profit! Most recently someone in Japan is selling our 2006 King and Queen of Mardi Paws photo. I got cranky about it, and found a content protector that’s been more trouble than it’s worth…so I took it off. I left it on the photos, but took it off the text. However, as everyone knows, if a person wants to steal an image there are so many ways to do it that I can’t protect so I use the watermark and I always suggest others do the same.
well, i think i finally uploaded one photo. Flickr was easier for me. it would be nice to be able to copy and paste a photo directly to the comment box. Can my Avatar be changed?
Welcome robbiesmom! You’re right; that shot of Robbie at the park is awesome. He looks like he’s resting from his swim.
Avatars: This site recognizes any globally recognized avatar, so when you apply one it will show up here. Go to http://en.gravatar.com/ and click “Sign Up Now” for a free account and you can upload any image you want and it will follow you when you visit other internet tubes
took this pic while we were hiking at Tenant Creek Falls in the Adirondack State Park
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38989541@N08/3632657182/
Trying to post a link to: hiking in the Adirondacks with Robbie our Black Lab
Photobucket allows photos as big as a meg. I would think Flickr is the same. Don’t worry about us waiting for the image to render in the browser. I looked again and saw that I could “Download at original size” and when I did that I could see it better. The focus is good.
I posted the photo without any editing because my main concern was focusing which is my biggest problem these days. I love how you cropped it. What size should I save the photos on Flickr?
Hi Kath, thanks for participating! I love your little finch. As this is a photography learning site, I assume you want me to talk about…well the photography. It would be more helpful for you *and* me if we knew more about the settings you used, but we’ll guess some things for our purposes today. Also, post a larger photo on Flickr so we can see it better.
This is what I like: You focused on the bird and probably shot at around f5.6 or 6.3, something like that, which softened the background, which provided a lovely backdrop for your yellow bird. Very nice bokeh, which I will be talking about in future posts.
Improvements I made: I cropped it and straightened out the horizon and moved the finch into one of those areas of interest that I talk about on the Skills page. See Composition.
Update: Sorry, I missed the exif on Flickr. I see that you did indeed shoot at f5.6. Bottom line: note the things you like and repeat them, note the things you don’t and eliminate them.
Keep shooting and posting!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25438804@N08/3433627985/
Paula: Comments?