26 Saber Tails Spring 2016
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America
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Caption/Technical Information
B
ernie and Kiki Singing. Taken in December 2002 when
Bernie was about 6 months old, using my first digital
camera, a Nikon Coolpix 4500. The camera was only 4
megapixels. Today even cell phone cameras have greater
resolution. Flash exposure, ISO 100, f/2.6, 1/60 sec.
B
ernie and Kiki Looking Out Window. Available light.
Subjects are on arm rest of couch near a large win-
dow. The background is dark because relatively little light
reaches the wall in back of the dogs, and it is dark in color
anyway. Nikon D300. 18-200mm lens, at 32mm, 48mm
full-frame equivalent, ISO 800, f/4.2, 1/80 sec.
K
iki and Bernie Indoors in Sunlight. Available light on
floor in shaft of sunlight coming through window.
D300. 10-20mm lens @ 20mm (30mm equivalent). ISO
400, f/10.0, 1/400 sec.
S
usie and Bernie Looking Up. Flash used, with “pet eye”
showing in Bernie’s eyes. I darkened Bernie’s eyes with
an adjustment in post-processing software. D300. 18-200
lens, 18mm (27mm equivalent), ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/60 sec.
P
uppy Susie on Couch. Bounced flash. D300 with 18-
200 lens, 32mm (48mm equivalent), ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/60
sec.
F
or most indoor photos, you’ll likely be using a wider
aperture indoors than outdoors in brighter light,
whether the aperture is set by you or the camera’s auto-
mation. As a result you’ll have relatively shallow depth
of field. That’s the distance in front of and behind the
place or feature that you’re focusing on. In a closeup,
usually you’ll want to try to have the dog’s nearest eye
sharp. The rest of the dog’s head and body and the sur-
roundings, can be less sharp without detracting from
the photo. If you’re taking a photo of a dog in a pool
of sunlight, the illumination will be much brighter, the
aperture can be smaller (higher f number) and depth of
field will be less of a consideration.
I
ndoors, using room light, you have the issue of color
temperature, which varies depending on the kind of
illumination. Light sources can be warmer - redder - or
cooler - bluer. Incandescent lamps tend to be relatively
warm, or red, to a camera. (Our eyes compensate and
ordinarily we’re not aware of this.) That’s why indoor
available light photos often look reddish. To deal with
that, you need to use a camera’s indoor or artificial light
setting. Fluorescent lights can vary widely in color
temperature. Some are designed to be warmer, to look
more like incandescent light, some are colder, more blu-
ish. Most cameras can adjust for the color temperature
of the light automatically, but that automation does not
always work well. If you review your photos and find the
color is off, use a color temperature adjustment (often
marked “indoors” or “fluorescent”) if it’s available on your
camera.
A
ll of this assumes that you’re planning a photo ses-
sion with your dog and have some control over the
condition and camera settings. But if your
dog is doing something cute and unex-
pected and your camera is nearby--just grab
it. Fire away and see what the camera comes
up with. Sometimes the best photos are
unplanned and less than perfect technically,
but more than make up for that in spontane-
ity and expression.
H
ave fun, enjoy photographing your dog
and the chances are good the dog will
want to please you and enjoy it too.
Kiki and Susie - photograph on left displaying ‘pet
eye’ which is corrected on right.