Some pics (& a question for photographers!)

[BSCK]

I love coming here and seeing the all the pictures of the beautiful doodles, and I love taking pictures of MY precious girl, too. BUT... I'm frustrated at how hard it is to get good pictures of her that capture her personality. I've never had a black dog before, and I'm sure I'm not the first to realize that getting good pictures of a black dog is just hard! I also would love to know what to do about the dreaded "flash eyes". I don't have (& can't afford right now) an SLR camera, but my digital camera (a Canon PowerShot SD 890) gives me great pictures of my kids, scenery, etc. I just am not sure how to set it (I guess) so that Daisy doesn't have glowing eyes in most of her pictures. Any advice from people who are smarter about photography than I am would be much appreciated .

And now, a few pics, glowing eyes and all!

Waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve. When is he EVER going to get here?


Used this one on the back of our Christmas cards this year


And back in September, we went to the beach with my parents and Daisy got to spend time with her BFF, my mom's dog Bailey. Here they are playing:




And here, they're resting after a long day on the beach. Daisy was EXHAUSTED! (And somehow I didn't get the glowing eyes in this one. Wish I knew what I'd done differently!)


Thanks for looking!

Stacy & Daisy

[KingstonTodd]

I dont have an SLR either. I use my digital in "sport" mode since the doods are rairly standing still enough and it comes out blurry if it is in any other mode. The I use adobe photoshop to adjust the red eye. poof, non-great-but-good-enough-pics of a black dog.

[mtd885]

Using Sport mode is a good move however changing the angle such as your last pic is the way to go. A pro Photographer friend agrees with changing the angle and or post processing as KTodd suggests.

[annabelles mom]

Stacy I think your pics are great !! And o what a sweet face, I can tell that is one spoiled furbaby

[lindamarie]

I think your pictures are wonderful! I have always complained that I couldn't get a good picture of black Bogart. You have far surpassed me!!

[Raleighsmom]

Your pictures are great Stacey...it's very difficult getting a good pic of a black dog....you can fool around with the eyes on photobucket too...keep posting pics of her..she's beautiful!!!

[tuffystar]

I often use the indoor setting and no flash and as much light as I can turn on in the room, or outdoor light. One thing I found with the light in the eyse is to change my angle a bit so the light isn't head on. I am still learning so it doesn't always work. I do like your pictures!

[Elmo the Bear]

I do film and video not stills but a couple of tips I got (on an SLR) was to open the camera a stop or two higher than you would normally (over expose slightly). Same as opening the iris up on a movie lens... letting more light in. Also the earlier tip about no flash / more light. Look at the quality of some of the outdoor shots compared to indoor (on the same camera) all down to the light.. more light (natural light) better shot.

If we shoot film or video indoors we use huge light to simulate daylight "temperatures" so a flash simply won't cut it.

We have the same problem with Freya (as she's black) but just to prove the point about light..

Here's some indoor shots:



and some outdoor



same dood... different light.

That said, if you get the right light indoors (windows etc) you can get the same:




Not great photos I'll admit but you see what I mean about the light ?

[Lucee&Rusty]

Dark dogs are harder to photograph! I still love your photos!
Natural light is great to stop that flash eye, though I know not always possible when you want to photograph them
doing that cutsie thing.
I have a favourite area in the house that I use which I know has the best natural light.
You sit with your back towards the natural light and the dog facing toward the light.
Here's one I took of Rusty.

My niece's cavoodle is black and again natural light under a pergola was used for this shot.

Action shots work better if they are coming towards you, rather than running past you (more chance of not getting a blurred shot).
Also another tip I gained is you are using a digital camera so take lots of shots! You may have to take 100 shots to get 5 good ones but who cares!

[MaxandMe]

Black dogs are hard to photograph as many time you can get either the texture but not the right eyes or other times
max unless he's against say SNOW (light background) and/or the light isn't optimal ......well put it this way

I TAKE TONS of shots in different modes then view them in my OLYMPUS software.....some i tweak the gamma/tone curve etc
meaning I play with lighting at times or sharpness a tad

I THINK YOUR PHOTOS ARE GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!!! your dogs are beautiful!!!