Day: April 13, 2012

I’m still experimenting with my new lens and trying to apply some of the composition rules I’m learning in my class. I didn’t plan to post any of the Bobo pix I took today but when I saw this one, I knew I had to post it. I was crouching/laying on the kitchen floor looking up at Bobo as she wandered the kitchen counter. I had just finished reading the “creative viewpoints” and “portrait” chapters in this week’s lesson. She was curious about me lurking on the floor and had just peered over the edge of the counter.

I think this shot exhibits some of the things I’ve learned this week: 1) Bobo is clearly the subject; 2)it is simple, with no extraneous clutter; 3) it makes use of lines (the countertop) which could also be considered a framing element; 4) it is a sort of candid portrait; 5) it is shot from a creative point of view; 6) to me it tells a story because she is so engaged with the camera; 7) there is empty space. But, it does have a major compositional problem: it does not effectively use the rule of thirds. But, sometimes, we’re told by our instructor, the rules are made to be broken and I love this shot. It’s a little underexposed but I like the brightness on the top of her head.

Focal Length 50mm
ISO 200
f/1.4
1/80
SOOC

It’s raining and I’m behind in my photography class lessons so I plan to spend the day studying and taking photos for my class; I don’t expect any of the class assignment photos to be acceptable for my blog. So, after looking at my dog nose photo from yesterday, and even though I love dog noses, I don’t think it does justice for my house guest, Madyson (Mady for short). So today’s photo is Mady’s entire face. She was resting on her dog bed when I came home from the gym, exhausted, I’m sure, from events of yesterday afternoon, after my brother and sister-in-law left. Although Mady seemed to quickly adjust to staying with me, the severe, late afternoon thunder and hail storm unsettled her a bit and she moved under the kitchen table by Bobo’s cage. I moved to the table as well just to make sure things stayed calm as both Bobo and Mady were jumpy from the thunder. There is a bit of rivalry going on there and they are both competing for my attention. And I was worried at first that Mady might suddenly remember she’s a bird dog and mayhem might ensue. Well, mayhem did ensue briefly but Bobo won and that’s documented on Bobo’s Blog.

For today’s shot, I used my new 50mm 1.4 lens and experimented with various apertures. The lens creates photos with incredibly shallow depth of field, especially at the larger apertures but even at f/8. I wanted to get as close to Mady’s face as I could with her entire face in focus. I was still a bit too close because the focus on her nose is soft. She cooperated by not moving while I set the camera on a pillow at eye level, used my remote shutter release and set a long shutter speed.

Focal Length 50mm
ISO 200
f/8
1.6 Seconds
SOOC