Final images plus evaluation

ONE PICTURE SAVES A LIFE

- Final Images -

1/200, F 5.6, ISO 800

1/200, F 5.0, ISO 800

1/200, F 5.0, ISO 800

Evaluation

A positive, positive experience. Enjoyed every second of it. Everything was going smoothly. I was able to engage with the dog using his favorite toy and making weird noises. I think a chose a perfect spot for the shooting and the right day as the weather/lighting conditions was just perfect. I did use flash however to light up the image a little. The backdrop is nicely blurred and has a calm tranquil feel to it due to the blue and green colours, it still has a natural feeling. The dog stands out superbly the contrast is sharp. There was no distractions around us and my partner did a great job of handling the dog. It was a good team work. I was very confident from the start to the end, I felt that I'm well prepared for this shooting, knowing everything that I had to know and as a result of that I did get the final result as I wanted it. I sat on the ground, bending over, zooming in to be at the dog's eye level, so I think I was able to create the eye contact between the dog and the viewer. I was able to successfully set up the camera for the circumstances and even though my shutter speed was limited to 1/200 due to the use of flash, still I was able to get sharp images and avoiding any motion blur. The only thing that I might missed out on is the distance between the background and the dog. I probably would have like a more blurry background, but I didn't achieved that due to the close distance. However I can still correct that with post editing. So if I want to change something that would be the only thing. As all in all, in my opinion this project can be a big success for everyone, I am very satisfied with the results of my images. I look for exactly the same setting. The idea worked well and the execution was good. I'M HAPPY!

Tips for dog photography

I have to consider a few things when I'm working with dogs, like:

1. Limit the number of distractions - Dog are distracted by everything. E.g Having people around is distracting. With fewer distraction is more likely that the dog is going to respond to me and I can get a better picture at that way and making sure the dog is focused on you.

2. Try to engage the dog with toys, treats and squeakers, visual signs, weird noises - Try to take the pictures when the dog is looking directly into the camera lens. Find out what the dog interested in and try to engage with the dog and I might get a little head tail or some interesting expression. 

3. Get on eye level - Remember when photographing dogs always be at the dog's eye level - We don't want them looking up, we want them looking at you. In the case of taking picture of a tiny dog, we can put the dog on a table and we'll be right at his eye level. There are dogs that can look a bit though, we should have a walk with him around for a couple of minutes until he pants and panting looks like smiling. 

4. Background - the most preferred backdrop is a green bush that have a nice natural setting in the background with no distracting elements. Try to avoid putting a white/black dog against a white/black wall, avoid the same colours. Always show some kind of a contrast between the dog and the background to make the dog stand out more.  

An example of what to avoid: This wrong setting really hides what the dog looks like and you are immediately starting to lose the contrast between the dog and the background. 

5. Composition - The most important photo is the head shot, focusing on the eyes. Specially the eyes because the eyes what makes a connection with the potential adopters. 

6. Patience - Remember to be patient, frustration will never help. The experience should be positive for the pet and for me as well. Enjoy!

Brief for dog adoption picture

In this project I would like to take picture of dogs who are waiting for a new home and work together with the dogs home staff, so with each other's help and collaboration we can help the dogs to be adopted quicker (hopefully) by taking a better adoption picture of them. 

I believe that this project has the potential to meet the animal shelter needs and the aims, as working together as a team we can help to increase the number of adoptions and support and make their work more efficient. At the end of the project the images will be uploaded to their websites and everybody who's been involved will be feeling more satisfied and happy. A very positive part of this project will be that the work that I will start off can be continued after the project as well even including myself as volunteering further on.

I'm going to chose a partner or more that I will team up with. Having a partner will help make my job as a photographer much much easier. My partner is very important as he will be responsible for handling the dog being on the leash, kind of keeping the dog calm and making sure the dog is not jumping around or running off across the park, so it's a safety requirement. We want to keep the dog safe and allow me to focus on taking the pictures. 

I'm planning to use my Canon EOS 1100D DSLR camera with 18-55mm lens. It's a fast lens and creates a very amazing fairy tail effect of the dogs. As the dogs' face, their eyes will be in focus and everything in the background will be blurred out, which is very appealing and it looks like a very positive situation. I always want to make sure that we make the pictures as positive as we possibly can as some people think that adopting from an animal shelter can be a potentially negative thing, but it's not and that's why I will try to make these dreamy pictures. Obviously it will be important to see how the dog looks like; small,big or have unique features? and show it in an additional image. 

Research dogs home images

Bit of information about how important it is to support these dogs home and help the animals find a new loving home.

Here are some example images that I downloaded from the following websites: RSPCA, Pets4Homes UK, Merseyside Dogs Home:

You can really see on these images how the wrong camera settings, positioning, background, weather/lighting conditions can really affect what the dog looks like. These images are all wrong in some ways but I can see some trying when they took the dog on the grass which gives a more natural feeling. 

However, the angle and the point of view of these images are wrong all the time. You can find a distraction element on nearly every picture. Whether its a lighting issue or motion blur or people's body parts, these are all distraction while the focus should be only on the dog. 

Pulling the dog out of the shadow into a bright setting with natural light we can get some fantastic shots and that is what I'm going to do. 

Changing idea

As I mentioned earlier I have some concerns about my first idea and I wasn't feeling comfortable enough to doing it even though I did enjoyed my test shooting I was kind of missing some motivation and excitement. But while I was reviewing my initial idea, I came up with another idea and I felt so strongly about it immediately and started to be excited and feeling motivated. 

My idea was to help out an animal shelter in my county, where the pets are looking for forever homes and they need our help. And I thought the best way I can help them is to take a better adoption pictures. I do see some of the websites images of the dogs that are waiting for adoption and they're clearly not the best shots of the dogs, very unprofessional and missing that dreamy, fairy tail look that can make the dog look love able from the first sight and convincing for the adopter. A good picture can really help save a life. I can clearly see how my project can help for a community who loves dogs and taking care of them. I love dogs too. I want them to be loved and helping them to find their forever loving homes by taking professional and amazing pictures of them. 

Review powder photography and experience further

Although I planned to use colour powder where each colour would have represented the person's feeling and added more meaning to the image, I was only able to use flour this time. However this was still good enough for my test run and showed that this idea can be attainable, mainly in similar weather conditions. I think it was the right day and time of the day for the shooting. Although it was a little bit windy, still I could correctly determine the direction of the wind and accordingly set my subject faced into the right direction, so the powder didn't blown back into her face. So, I was already ticking out some of the points that I've made earlier to consider before the shooting. I've waited for an afternoon hour to do my shooting when the sun was low and I barely had some shadows, plus my subject were standing in the shade too.

Personally, I think the shooting was successful, the images show the emotion of the girl, she was definitely having fun and that was one of my main point, reason to do this project; to let the people experience something joyful while I'm creating something amazing and memorable for them. I can see this project work and getting the outcomes that I'm looking for. However I do have some concerns about it too. The use of powder can be a messy process and people might not want to engage in it as truly the girl's dress got dirty during the shooting.

After reviewing the images, I think they work really well both as a series and as a single image. I have realized the possibilities in post production and how I can present them in different ways but still effectively and I'm happy with both results. Also, I think found the right method for this project. The continuous shooting feature of the camera was definitely the key for the success. I can hardly say anything that I would change. I was shooting in two different format depending on the way the powder have been thrown up, so I can't see any problem with the framing. Obviously the background could have been much interesting, but it was still fine to have contrast between the powder, the dress and the colour of the background. All of the images are correctly exposed and I was able to define the right shutter speed for the circumstances.

In addition, because I had concerns about the execution and I was not able to apply colour powder on my images I tried to find a different way of how colours can express various emotions. I really like that idea of purposely using colours on my photographs and I really wanted to show how the colours can evoke different feelings and ideas in us. So my project kind of turned into something completely different as now I wanted to show the application of one colour in various ways and testing the effectiveness of my idea about colour meanings.

I chose the colour RED and searched for its meaning. Here it is:

Out of the different meanings, I chose three that I wanted to convey with my images.
These are: LOVE, PASSION, ANGER. I either wanted to have the red in the focus point (center) to immediately grab the peoples attention or strongly applying the colour on my image, so there is barely any other colour. I come up with some simple ideas to show how its meaning can change.

Here are my sketches of how I want to frame the images and apply the colour, red:

LOVE (1/200, F 5.6, Auto ISO 800, flash, indoor)

PASSION (1/160, F 5.6 Auto ISO 640, outdoor)

ANGER(1/160, F 4.5, Auto ISO 250, outdoor)

I'm happy about the outcomes, I think the red is always gets the viewer's attention and I was also using indexical sign and body language to increase the meaning behind the image which helps to transmit messages to the viewer. I think proved to myself how effective a colour can be on my photographs and how it evokes different meanings or ideas in the viewer. This way I was able to test and try the effectiveness of colour use on my images and how I can convey my message more successfully to the viewer with emphasizing a colour and connect it with body language/gestures expressions in some cases.

Overall, I think my initial idea can work very well for the project. I'm also feeling prepared about the techniqual aspects that I have to know for this kind of photography. I do think that it's a manageable project and can improve the quality of life for the residents of the community center.

Test run of powder photography

MY TEST RUN

Before I do the shooting I have to consider a few things like;

• weather/lighting condition - sunny, rainy, windy, cloudy, hazy etc? Which direction the wind blows? Do I need to use flash? 
• shadow detail - distinct, soft, barely visible, no shadows?
• background - light, dark? How is the contrast between the subject,powder and the background? Is it making the powder stand out? 
• shutter speed - appropriate time? How can use shutter speed to capture motion in my photography? 

To freeze the moment of throwing the powder I have to know the appropriate technique for this particular shooting. So, I have looked at the different techniques to capture motion. I was looking for a technique that freezes the entire scene and captures the motion in a single moment. And the method I'm going to use for my shooting is 'chrono photography'. 

Chrono photography

Chrono photography is an effective way for capturing motion using the continuous shooting feature on my camera that allows me to capture a series of shots. In the post processing stage I can also join those images together.

Determine the proper shutter speed

To identify the right shutter speed for my circumstances I'll need to ask myself a few questions: 

1. How fast is my subject moving?

2. How much distance exists between the camera and the subject?

3. How much motion do I want my photograph to convey to the viewer? Do I want like a more frozen,crispy looking subject?

Data of the test run

• Weather: dry, sunny (sun rise), clear sky, little bit windy  
• Shadow: barely visible
• Background: red brick wall, (black dress on the subject) 
• Shutter speed: 1/500, continuous shooting (Camera on mode M, F3.5, Auto ISO)

Here are my images:

I shot the images in two different formats; portrait and landscape and I also thought about two different presentation styles; one that shows the action in a single image and one that shows the action in four images.