One of my favorite things about the place I work is the dogs. They know there are goodies upstairs and come rushing up to have some. This is Nugget and I have permission to post his adorable portrait. I took pictures of another pair of dogs who come in and they turned out lousy. SO I was nervous because dogs move and when you blow up the picture you have blur. Then I remember the spyglass on my camera. The light lit in my tiny noggin. That is why that is there. Now no more getting a picture loaded and being so disappointed. Going to conquer all the bells and whistles yet. Thanks for all your wonderful comments and favs, they drive me to keep learning.
Ooops! I used to have a Nikon D90 and you know, I can't even remember a spyglass thingie! I guess I'll look more closely at the Nikon I have now, eh? ;-) Thanks!
Nugget is gorgeous albeit a bit downcast. Did you have treats for him? Oh well, shoulda, woulda, coulda, eh?
I have a great soft spot for old Labradors - and this is a great photo of Nugget. Would you like a couple of tips for taking more photos of Nugget? - I don't want to offer advice unless it's asked for.
@joansmor I think It's really difficult photographing dogs. roz2012 is incredibly good at it. I saw that your shutter speed was 1/20 of a second - not really fast enough if the dog is going to move at all - for hand holding 1/60 is probably as low as you should go. It can work well if the camera is a little lower - the lower the better sometimes. For this one my camera was on the ground http://365project.org/jocasta/365/2013-07-01
Hope that's of some use.
@jocasta My mentor is always getting after me for that too low shutter speed. Especially when I rush. I had several that had blur because the dog moved. Thanks for the help. Probably when the camera is in the office I should check the camera speed so I am ready. Because often the dogs are in and out in a blink. Getting down and back up isn't easy and in a dress as I was not really "lady like." LOL But I could sit in my rolling chair. Hopefully Russ will come back in with his retrievers and I can try again. Tomorrow I will preset my shutter speed and try to be ready.
@joansmor I don't have to comment tonight Joan because Joy, @jocasta has done it for me... but I will anyway! I'm amazed and impressed that this is as sharp as it is for a handheld shot with an 80mm focal length - 120mm equivalent on your camera at 1/20th sec. You're obviously struggling for light here as you were at 1600 ISO: under these marginal conditions, don't be afraid to open your lens up to its maximum aperture. If you absolutely need to get the shot, then push the ISO and convert to B&W where the high ISO noise will be less obtrusive as it will resemble film grain.
@jocasta@vignouse In the middle of the night when I do my best thinking (the cobwebs clear) I woke at one point and remembered I had played with things. You are right about the light I was having trouble with light. That is why I thought to up my ISO. As for the Aperture - that was as open as I could get it. Sometimes it will go lower but not that day. I miss my film camera where the ap was set with a ring turn. But it may have been that I was rushed and hitting something wrong. Every time I hit the button for the half way setting that allows me to adjust the fstop it took the picture. Surely a sign of nerves. I use the old Triipod Hold for taking pictures like this. You know hold the camera with both hands and brace the elbows against the body and hold your breath when you click the camera. Works as you have seen pretty good for me. I couldn't get close to Nugget as he was afraid of me that day. I think it was my black dress. Nugget is a nervous dog anyway. But I felt better when I remembered I had thought of adjusting things rather then ps as I so often do. Just forgot about it yesterday. Choke it up to my embarrassment at still having the wrong shutter speed. But Jocasta I love instruction on my pictures so I will explain back my thoughts at the time but will take your suggestions into my thought process. I thing Richard can attest to that as he as instructed me along to many a good picture lately.
Nugget is gorgeous albeit a bit downcast. Did you have treats for him? Oh well, shoulda, woulda, coulda, eh?
Hope that's of some use.