Playing with some new photo gear - NEW 'tutorials'

[Catlady711]

What's the flash gun thing?? Is it attached to the camera?? I'm so lost on this thread, lol!

I love the pictures, they do look like studio prints.

At this point don't worry too much about flash guns. LOL Just using a piece of cardboard with wrinkly alumminum foil (dull side out), or a piece of computer paper will get you about what I shot today.

Suffice to say a 'flash gun' or off camera flash or studio strobe will make better pix for lighting, but can get a bit more complicated and you would need to have a good grasp on photography basics first.

I can cover more on 'flash guns' later if people want, but I tend to gear my 'lessons' (yes I do this at home and online alot for people that ask) more towards people who love photography, but only have simple cameras, or aren't very advanced photographers.

[jennielynn1970]

it's amazing the difference that that silver reflector made. Pooky was very accommodating with the whole set up too, lol!

I definitely appreciate the lessons.

[Catlady711]

it's amazing the difference that that silver reflector made. Pooky was very accommodating with the whole set up too, lol!

I definitely appreciate the lessons.

Yup, I can see it now, all of PT will be putting crinkled aluminum foil (NON shiney side out!) on cardboard now. LOL Also a car window shade (those silver things that they have in the auto dept. that's for the windshield in the summertime) work pretty good too. I have two of those also. LOL

Yeah, that's why Pooky gets so many more pictures done of him sometimes, he's more laid back.

No problem. I enjoy talking about photography about as much as I love talking about pets. lol And I always had wished that I'd had someone to teach me this stuff when I was starting out instead of just library books. Now-a-days I think they call this 'paying forward'. lol

[rg_girlca]

Gorgeous, absolutely GORGEOUS pictures of your cats. The one of Josh is breathtaking.

[Catlady711]

Ok we had some good strong sunlight today so I was able to do my "pix tutorial" about how the white thingy works (technically called a translucent reflector/illuminator, but we'll call it a white thingy because it's easier to type and more fun to say LOL).

Again, to be fair to those of you with simpler point and shoot cameras, these were all shot with the Canon S3IS on Program Mode, and NO processing, only downsizing for posting.

This white thingy is really cool because it can do two things depending how you use it.

A cheaper substitute would be a piece of white poster/foam board for the reflector part. You can use a thin but all white shower curtain or a fair quality white bed sheet for the other part.

(yeah I buy expensive stuff sometimes but I know how to use the substitutes as well, I still keep 4 sheets of big poster boards and a white sheet around the house and use them still)

Ready for the 'white thingy' tutorial? OK!

Modeling for us today is Bear, who has kindly volunteered his services for this tutorial.

Ok so here's your situation, you've got this great sunbeam coming in the window with your pet laying there snoozing (ok so Bear elected not to snooze), you go grab the camera and this is what you get.



OUCH, harsh shadows on the wall, shadows go a total unrecognizable black near his butt, and some parts of your picture have horrible white washed out areas. Hmmm, think we can do better? You bet.

Here's where the white thingy comes in. Light goes through it but it's softer light and spread more evenly.

So we prop up the white thingy in the window and hold it up with a clothespin to the curtain rod. It looks like this.




So now here's what we get for a pix with that set up.



Better. The shadows still have details in the fur, and the nasty shadow behind Bear is gone. There is a bit of way too bright area behind Bear on the wall though. This could be eliminated if he weren't so close to the wall, but that's where my model's kitty castle is, so we just live with it. LOL

There's still a fair shadow on the side of his face and neck though and we can get that tamed down even more. How? We add the silver reflector from the other 'tutorial'.

Since Bear is being such a good model we're going to give it a try.

Here's the set up for that combination. I held the silver one just a bit different angle than this pix shows to get the next shot.



And here's what our picture looks like now.



Much better, we can now see Bear's lovely fur texture on the other side of his face as well.


"ok so what's the deal with the reflector part of the white thingy and how is it different than the silver thingy?"

No Problem! Modeling for this tutorial part is Cami, who kindly volunteered her services for you.

Here's the problem, kitty sitting in the windowsill watching birds, bright sunlight shining in. Like this....



Oooh, we can't see those lovely stripes in her fur at all!! This just won't do. We need something.

Hmmm lets see, how about a white thingy? Let's try it ok?



So this is what our pix looks like now.



Now we can see some of the stripes on her side facing the camera. The white thingy puts a little light in when you don't want a whole bunch. Depending on your subject's fur/skin and the lighting you may just want a soft fill like that.

In my case today, I really want to see those stripes!

So lets try swapping the white thingy for the silver one and see what happens.



Better! Now I can see her Purrty stripes!!!

So what do you do when you only have a second to get the shots, and/or a skittish critter?

We can make use of the pop up flash.

More on that in the next post.

[Catlady711]

Ok so we don't have time to grab a white or silver thingy, or our critter is afraid of it, what do we do?

Our pop up flash can help save the day.

Remember the shot of our model Bear for the sunbeam? Well he's here volunteering his modeling services for you again.

Here's the problem, backlighting (light coming from behind something).



Ouch, I can't even see his face! If I change the camera so I can see him the whole background will be all white, not what I want. So I use the pop up flash without any paper on it because this is a very bright sunbeam.

Here's what we get with the flash on 1/2 power (factory defalt setting).



Better, I can see his face now. We're still going to get alot of too bright white from the sun because it's so darn bright today.

If we want to see more of Bear's face we crank up the pop up flash power to full and get this.



You can try using the paper with these shots but remember the pop up flash isn't very powerful so it certainly can't compete with a million mile a way ball of fire in the sky, but it sure can help with those dark shadows.

We can also try pop up flash at 1/2 power on the very first shot for this 'tutorial' instead of using the white or silver thingy.



It doesn't help the pix as much as the white or silver thingy's did, but it's quick, easy to use, and you always have it with you.


With ANY of the shots from ANY of these 'tutorials' I can change things on the camera or how I take them to make them a bit better yet, but I wanted to just do quick snapshots on purpose to make this easy for people to be able to do themselves at home with their own point and shoot cameras.

NOW....go out there with your point and shoots and try some of what I've shown you and post your results here! I really want to see your shots. If you have time and a cooperative pet (cat, dog, guinea pig, bird, or whatever) please post the before, after, and set up shots if possible so others can see too.

Ok Next 'tutorial' by request will be on white balance or color casts (as requested by Moesha). I'll see what I can do about getting those posted over the weekend.

[Randy_K]

Wow, your cats are patient! Mango is usually off on another adventure after my first shot unless he's sound asleep. I found that if I talk to him while he's snoozing he won't wake up. If I'm quiet he has to see what I'm up too...

[Moesha]

I will have to see what I can do with the lighting around here. They have a perch next to a window, but I bought them new kitty beds. They've been in the beds more than near the window. I don't have any light to practice bouncing back onto them. LOL Maybe I'll have to use something besides my furkids as models. I wish Morgan would be a good model like Bear was. They look so similiar.

[Moesha]

I learned a lot from your lesson and really liked the photo demonstrations!! Any thing that you are willing or able to teach us is very much appreciated. But please don't spend too much of your valuable time thinking about our Pet Talk Photography Lessons. Thank you so much!!

[Catlady711]

I learned a lot from your lesson and really liked the photo demonstrations!! Any thing that you are willing or able to teach us is very much appreciated. But please don't spend too much of your valuable time thinking about our Pet Talk Photography Lessons. Thank you so much!!

No problem, I enjoy doing it most of the time. It's just normally on Tuesday's I have alot more time available than I ended up with today because of other things.

I would have liked to do the silver reflector thing today but without stronger lighting it's not going to show what it does, and personally I learn quicker through pix. Hopefully Thursday our weather will clear and get a bit more sunlight.

I'm glad people seem to enjoy my shots and tips.

[Moesha]

I meant to also say that your subject is beautiful! Just sitting there while you changed your reflectors around and still ready for the closeups...must be a professional model in fur clothing.
I'm not a huge fan of flash myself. I have taken some pictures of Morgan in his new beds. He closes his eyes with the flash. I have turned the flash off and left it to the ISO to get a picture. But they turn out very yellow. I noticed you mentioned something about that in your post and referenced white balance. I've heard of that several times but haven't grasped the full concept. Perhaps you could have a brief tutorial of that subject sometime when you get the chance.

[heidiv]

BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS!!!!! Excellent job! Love them.... I wish I could get some photos of the fur kids that look that good!

[Catlady711]

I meant to also say that your subject is beautiful! Just sitting there while you changed your reflectors around and still ready for the closeups...must be a professional model in fur clothing.
I'm not a huge fan of flash myself. I have taken some pictures of Morgan in his new beds. He closes his eyes with the flash. I have turned the flash off and left it to the ISO to get a picture. But they turn out very yellow. I noticed you mentioned something about that in your post and referenced white balance. I've heard of that several times but haven't grasped the full concept. Perhaps you could have a brief tutorial of that subject sometime when you get the chance.

Pooky says 'thank you'.

Yup, photography seems easier when you have a beautiful model. hmmm wonder how he'd look draped across the hood of a sports car? ROFL

Sure I can do a tutorial, with pix of course, on color casts (aka. white balance). That one is fairly easy to show in pix what's happening. I'll see what works out for when I can do that one.

[krazyaboutkatz]

You sure do take wonderful pictures. Thanks for the lesson. I learned a lot. I also have a Canon Powershot S3IS camera so I'm going to try this in the future.

I normally take most of my pictures inside because most of them are of my cats which are indoor only. I try not to use the flash but sometimes I have to. I do have a program on my computer that fixes redeye but it doesn't fix the weird alien eye that I sometimes get from non blue eyed cats. Thanks again and I look forward to more lessons in the future.