Dogs eyes

[star]

Hi guys,

I love taking pics of my beloved dog, but find that it is pretty difficult for me (I'm no expert) to get a nice shot of him without his eyes shining!

Any suggestions?

[slejhamer]

Best bet is to avoid using flash. You may have to use a slower shutter speed to get the exposure right, but that might lead to blurring if the dog doesn't sit still. Alternatively you can try increasing the room lighting or getting the pup to sit in a sunny spot.

If your camera can use an external flash, try bouncing the flash off the ceiling or walls. This gives natural diffused lighting and should reduce the possessed-pooch effect.

Good luck,

[star]

Can you explain to me how you bounce flash off the walls?

slejhamer wrote:
Best bet is to avoid using flash. You may have to use a slower shutter speed to get the exposure right, but that might lead to blurring if the dog doesn't sit still. Alternatively you can try increasing the room lighting or getting the pup to sit in a sunny spot.

If your camera can use an external flash, try bouncing the flash off the ceiling or walls. This gives natural diffused lighting and should reduce the possessed-pooch effect.

Good luck,

[slejhamer]

If you look on this page:

http://twalker.d2g.com/pro90/flashtest/index.htm

you can see all of the different positions that the Canon 420ex is capable of. That's the flash I use with my G1. Truly, it has made a big improvement in my indoor flash pictures.

Anyway, if your camera can mount an external flash like the 420ex, you would simply angle the flash toward a wall. (The wall should be white, unless you want to reflect color onto your subject.)

Aiming the flash at a wall (or a reflector, or a big sheet of white poster board, etc.) creates a side-lighting effect that can be very appealing in portrait photography.

Note that not all external flashes are designed to swivel or adjust vertically, so if you have one of those you won't be able to bounce it.

[star]

I am not using a camera with an external flash. I'm using the S30.....

So, now what can I do?

slejhamer wrote:
If you look on this page:

http://twalker.d2g.com/pro90/flashtest/index.htm

you can see all of the different positions that the Canon 420ex is capable of. That's the flash I use with my G1. Truly, it has made a big improvement in my indoor flash pictures.

Anyway, if your camera can mount an external flash like the 420ex, you would simply angle the flash toward a wall. (The wall should be white, unless you want to reflect color onto your subject.)

Aiming the flash at a wall (or a reflector, or a big sheet of white poster board, etc.) creates a side-lighting effect that can be very appealing in portrait photography.

Note that not all external flashes are designed to swivel or adjust vertically, so if you have one of those you won't be able to bounce it.

[Rustle]

Without the benefit of an external flash, pretty much your only option is to increase the lighting in the room. It's the same as red-eye--your dog's eyes aren't adjusting to the sudden light increase. If you want, you can shine bright lights at your dog to dilate his/her pupils before the shot, but that's just mean.

Russ

[star]

Oh dear....then I guess that I will not be able take a lot of indoor, and night shots of him. :(

rustle wrote:
Without the benefit of an external flash, pretty much your only option is to increase the lighting in the room. It's the same as red-eye--your dog's eyes aren't adjusting to the sudden light increase. If you want, you can shine bright lights at your dog to dilate his/her pupils before the shot, but that's just mean.

Russ

[slejhamer]

Star,

If the S30 allows you to set "film" speed, try using a higher ISO. This will increase the camera's light sensitivity in low-light situations, although it may introduce some noise into your pictures.

Also, try these built-in flash tips from CNET. I tried the first a few years ago on a point-and-shoot 35mm camera and it worked so-so. The second one sounds a little bit clumsy, but just might do the trick:

from http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/digitalcameras/0,39001469,39001315-2,00.htm:

1. Tape a small piece of translucent tracing paper (like tissue or tracing paper) over the flash to diffuse the light. This softens the sharp point source of the flash and also cuts down on harsh shadows and the possibility of red eye.

2. To bounce a flash, place a small mirror at a 45-degree angle in front of the flash to reflect the light off of the ceiling. If you don't have a small mirror, make like McGyver and fashion one using an unwanted CD and a pair of heavy-duty scissors.

[star]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is ISO?

[Rustle]

Star, Mitch posted a great link a few days ago for www.photocourse.com. You should give it a look-see for some good basics in digital photography.

Increasing your ISO increases the camera's ability to sense light. So, a higher ISO enables you to take pictures with less light. The benefit is that you'll get faster shutter speeds (to avoid blur in low-light or fast-action situations), but the trade-off is that there's more noise in your pictures.

Your S30 defaults to Auto, which varies the ISO between 50-150. You can go into the menu and set this to 50, 100, 200, 400, or 800. Test the effects by setting your camera up on a flat surface, then taking five exactly same pics varying only the ISO. You'll see that the camera has a faster shutter speed for each one, but the images have more noise.

For indoor shots of your dog, Mitch is suggesting that you notch up the ISO so that you don't need to use the flash. I wouldn't go higher than 200 if you don't have to, as I find the 400 and 800 settings to be very noisy on the S30. Of course, a noisy picture is better than no picture at all, but you should strive to get as low an ISO as possible.

Russ

[Conk]

star wrote:
Oh dear....then I guess that I will not be able take a lot of indoor, and night shots of him. :(


Star
Don't get discouraged about taking lowlight pictures of your pooch indoors with slow shutter speeds.
The photo here I've attached was shot at night using only the overhead dining room light which is not very bright at all.
http://www.pbase.com/image/3404390
I know it's B&W but my point being that it came out well with low light.

I've come to learn that some good photo's require a lot of patience.

[star]

Thanks guys...I'll give it a try