Dogs playing around

[K3nt]

Took these over the weekend using the 7D and the kit 18-135mm lens. Not a very good one, but still waiting for that elusive 70-200mm one to arrive, should be here first week of april. It was a bit of a challenge to shoot this as the sun was very bright and the ground was covered in extremely white snow.
The pics turned out ok, but there could be a better balance between the snow and the dogs, haven't quite yet worked out what would have provided a better result, but I'm learning. And having fun while doing it.. ;D

Check it out. (BTW, these two ones they do play rough, but there's no aggression involved. Just so there's no misunderstanding).

Godzilla!!
_MG_2785 by K3ntFIN, on Flickr

Wrestling is a nice sport!
_MG_2764 by K3ntFIN, on Flickr

Anti-gravity!
_MG_2732 by K3ntFIN, on Flickr

Hard right!
_MG_2484 by K3ntFIN, on Flickr

 

[HughHowey]

Here's some from my dog park (two days ago):

 

[Admin US West]

Photographing black dogs in the snow is a exercise in futility, The dynamic range is so high thats its very difficult. Its not a lens issue. I've a few examples that I won't show.

Here is one of my dogs taken with my Nikon 990 a few years ago before The first Digital Rebel appeared. The background was removed, then I had a rubber stamp made for my wife. You only need a black stamp pad!

 

[Happy viking]

Here are my dogs playing ;D Shots taken with 7D and 70-200L USM (non is)

 

[Admin US West]

That first one deep in the snow is really cute.

 

[K3nt]

Excellent pictures everybody. I love the Corgis especially (but I'm partial, my first dog was a Corgi Cardigan) ;D.

I'm thinking along the lines that with the proper filter attached to the lens one could achieve very nice pictures of black dogs in snow, but you are right, the dynamic range is pretty crazy.

 

[Happy viking]

Thanks

What kind of filter would you recomand?

For more Corgi pictures se my Flikr http://www.flickr.com/photos/kragset/

 

[K3nt]

Being quite new to this I'm not quite sure what the filter would be. Maybe some of the more experienced guys could give us some hints, my first thought would be a circular polarizing filter. It would take out some of the glare, but maybe an ND type filter would yield even better results.

I added you as a contact on my flickr too..

 

[kubelik]

an ND filter would not help, as it would evenly reduce exposure across the frame (unless you had a dog-shaped-cut-out in the middle of your ND filter).

a CPL would, as K3nt noted, cut down some of that glare. however, most CPLs give you at most a 2/3 stop difference ... it'll help, but it won't kill full-on-midday-sunlight.

you can probably recover some more highlight if you shoot with very neutral settings (rather than the standard tone curve which is pretty amped up already).

the more important thing is to accept your camera's dynamic range for what it is, and learn to work with it. if you have to shoot in snow, don't do it in the middle of a bright sunny day, where you're running into peak intensity on the snow. go into the woods and shoot in shade. consider using supplemental lighting on the dog (flash unit could help, although it won't keep up with your 7D's 8fps shooting rate). if you get really serious, get a higher-output flash unit that can actually compete with the sun (Elinchrom Ranger RX's). that's how ski and snowboard photographers get properly exposed and reasonable dynamic range shots.

 

[K3nt]

Great info here. Loving it. Here's what I've learnt to do. Shoot in RAW with very neutral settings, then adjust the shot in post-processing when you have time. It takes some doing, but I just managed to get some seriously nice results doing that.
I'll post those later. I also discovered just how bad the chromatic aberration is on the 18-135mm Kit lens. Wow. So now I need to re-process most of my shots again to get them where I want to...

I learn new stuff every day... this is great! ;D

 

[ions]

A bump for the dogs thread!


Kimi Hiking in Harcourt Park by Christopher Brian's Photography, on Flickr

 

[K3nt]

Another bump with better exposure in the snow.. (From last year)


_MG_2389 by K3ntFIN, on Flickr

 

[ions]

More of Kimi


Kimi's 5th Birthday! German Shepherd Dog by Christopher Brian's Photography, on Flickr


Kimi Running in the Snow by Christopher Brian's Photography, on Flickr


Crazy Rig, AKA Kimi the German Shepherd by Christopher Brian's Photography, on Flickr

 

[ions]

Kimi on the Dock in Harcourt Park by Christopher Brian's Photography, on Flickr

 

[rocket_scientist]

Here are a few of our dog, and my in-laws basset and basset-beagle mix, getting a bath outside. All shots were taken with a 7D and 24-70 f2.8L.

 

[gleb86]

Great shots everyone!

Here's one of my pooch

 

[mreco99]

Our little maddie, tebitan terrier

Brother in laws dog called Ralf waiting for the postman

Maddie taking it easy

 

[Kamera Obscura]

Pepper.

 

[DCMoney]

Not a high quality picture, but a good memory of a friend.

 

[rocketman]

Here's one from my first day of using my new 7D.
It seems AI Servo is working
70-200mm f/4 L IS USM at 1/400, f5.0, iso 1000