A Truly Remarkable Lack of Talent

I love photography. I really do. It's a pity how truly mind-bogglingly awful I am at it. I even took a class in college, which I got a B in, but that was because I had a kind teacher and a lot of help from Christine in the darkroom. At least I KNOW I am bad. I do not fool myself. Where Justin actually has talent with his photographic skills, I tend to have the approach that if I just take ENOUGH pictures, chances are one will be acceptable to good.
However.
There ARE things that one can do to actually overcome a total lack of skill. Practice is probably first. Bob once advised me to "Just take pictures everyday" a few years ago and he was right. While practice does not make perfect in my case, it makes "fairly good". Plus, I am more frequently reminded of good simple rules which help one to take better pictures.
Naturally, dogs are one of my favorite, and most challenging, subjects to photograph. They are fairly unpredictable, they get bored, etc. But if you are always aware of the lighting, keep the background simple and (in my case) take tons of pictures, chances are one decent one might emerge. Brodie has become accustomed to me dragging out the camera and treat box. As long as there are treats involved, Brodie will put up with a lot.
More posts soon. I have a lot to do today, but I also want to do some creative things today. I was looking at some of the dog photographs of Rachael Hale and Sharon Montrose, and that inspired me to work on photography today.

Comments

[Jody]

Some tips:

Kill the direct flash. That's what's making his eyes blue in the center and creating the nasty shadow behind his head. If you MUST use a flash, bounce it off a wall. Instead, try upping your film speed to 400, or if you're feeling really grainy and avant-garde, 1000!

The aperature is your friend. Using a low f-stop number (i.e., less than 8) will blur the background and make Brody's head pop out of the background, thus making him the center of attention, where he needs to be.

Finally, don't put the subject dead-center in the frame. Imagine the frame divided by four lines (2 horizontally, 2 vertically). Put your subject's focal point (i.e., where the viewer should look) on one of the four intersections of those lines, and violá! Instant good composition.

Have fun!

[Suzi]

Thanks Jody! I'll try that. I always wondered how to to the blurred background but subject in focus thing. Thanks!!! :D

[Gregory]

We have ten dogs and I know exactly how hard it is to get really good photos of pets. It's tough! The best action and the best looks always happen when you don't have the camera in your hands.

Good luck.