Tips on shooting black dogs with a SX200is

[HungryWriter]

Is there a way? My two tiny poodles are just a blur of black when I take their picture. If I use the flash, red eye. There is no texture in the blacks so they just look like a black blob.

Thanks for the input.

[Jon]

Use some (you may need to experiment in various situations) + Exposure Compensation.

[Big G]

Your camera calculates the exposure assuming everything is a mid Grey.

It sounds like you are composing the shot with the dogs being the predominant feature. As a result your camera is not correctly exposing the black. As Jon recommends adjusting the exposure compensation will help.

I found the book "Understanding Exposure" by Brian Peterson, recommneded by quite a few on here, to be very useful.

I have a similar problem with my dog, a cocker spaniel - see my flickr.

[MtClimber]

A slave bounce flash, like the DigiSlave-3000, photographs pets very well with and of the Canon point and shoot cameras.

Have a great day and a Happy Thanksgiving.

Sarah Joyce