The Dog Park: April, Week 4

"I Got It!"
Canon SX40 HS
f/4
1/1250
ISO 200
4/27/13
Salt Lake City, UT

Hey, it's only Saturday and I'm posting already!  yay me!  So today I took another trip to the dog park.  These pictures turned out way better, I think.  I tried things out on the sports preset mode on my camera, and I got the results I was looking for.  The camera uses a 1/1250 shutter speed or faster and automatically adjusts the rest of the settings to get a good clean image.  It was so much easier than trying to make all of the adjustments myself.  Lesson learned.  Pili and I were having a good old time playing fetch with this nice stick that we found at the park.  Here she's just coming back for another toss, even though it means splashing down these rocks.  My number one favorite part of this picture is the sheet of water arcing off of her tail. It's a little hard to see because water is, after all, a clear liquid, but it's something I probably would have missed on any of my other camera settings.  I'm feeling good about the progress I made this month on my action shots.  There's still room for improvement, but I feel like I've figured out a thing or two, thanks to this little exercise.

The Dog Park: April, Week 3

"Oh, So Close" (to being awesome)
Canon SX40 HS
f/4
1/500
ISO 400
4/13/13
Salt Lake City, UT

This picture was so close to being really great.  The trouble with photographing dogs is that they move so much faster than I do.  Yes, I realize that this dog's head is missing.  But there are so many other things that I love about this picture that I decided to make it this week's picture anyway.  This dog was playing catch with its owner.  You can see the red toy in its mouth.  It was just so happy getting in and out of the water; they played for maybe 30 minutes, just doing the same thing over and over.

What I like about this photo is how the action is nicely frozen, even though it is not nicely framed.  The splashing water is just so perfect.  If only I had anticipated how quick that dog was.  Sigh!

For this trip to the dog park, I decided to use a different setting than the last trip.  For the photos from weeks 1 and 2, I was on manual mode; for this photo, I used the Aperture Priority setting.  That way I could still play around with the depth of field but not have to fiddle with the other settings.  Since it was a cloudy day, I bumped up the ISO in order to get a faster shutter speed. I think that overall the pictures turned out better than the first trip to the dog park.  As is obvious from this picture, I still have some work to do, but I'm feeling better about my action shots.  I feel good about my picture-taking ability; I just need to anticipate the action better. Next time I take my camera to the dog park, I think I'm going to try using my camera's preset mode for kids and pets.  I think that will free me up even more to try to keep up with the dogs.  I'm excited to see what the next trip brings.

The Dog Park: April, Weeks 1 and 2

So, the point of this whole photo of the week practice is to actually get better at photography.  I definitely have my preference as to the types of photos that I take, so this month, I'm branching out with the help of some friends.

This month I'm trying my hand at action shots, and trust me, there is lots of action at the dog park.  I've gone a couple of times with my friend Courtney and her dog Pili.  Pili is a very energetic 6-year-old chocolate lab.  She is my favorite dog ever.  She loves the water, and the dog park very conveniently has a creek running through it.  It is the perfect opportunity for some water shots.

"Fetch!"
Canon SX40 HS
f/5
1/400
ISO 100
3/16/2013
Salt Lake City, UT

"Shake It Out"
Canon SX40 HS
f/3.5
1/500
ISO 100
3/16/13
Salt Lake City, UT
This is a fun shot, but I think it would have turned out better with a faster shutter speed.  Dogs just shake the water off so quickly that even 1/500 of a second is too slow to stop their motion altogether.  At the same time, I kinda like that she's a little blurred.  It does give a sense of motion, not that the action itself doesn't, but you  know what I mean.

I took both of these pictures using a manual setting, which I decided is a little difficult when you need to make quick adjustments.  Lesson number 1 from this: full manual mode is not always the best.  On my trip to the dog park last weekend (pictures from that trip for weeks 3 and 4), I tried a different mode, but even with that, I think that the preset mode for action shots is going to be my best bet for the dog park.  I'll probably go again in the next few weeks.  I'll try it out again and see what happens.

just in case

on the off chance that anyone checks for new pictures mid-week, I'm working on it.  April is really getting away from me, and with the semester winding up, I've been a little preoccupied.  But here's a teaser for what's coming: action shots.

The Back Lot: March, Week 5

"Wood and Webs"
Canon Powershot A4000
f/3
1/60
ISO 250
1/18/2013, 4:25 pm
Provo, Utah

The Back Lot: March, Week 4

Distressed inn sign
Canon Powershot A4000
f/3
1/60
ISO100
1/18/13, 4:31 pm
Provo, UT

The Back Lot: March, Weeks 1, 2, and 3

So I'm playing catch up.  How in the world did it get to be the 3rd Sunday in March?!  I had a hard time deciding what my theme for the month would be, thus the lack of posts the past 2 weeks.  But after looking through my pictures, I decided on one.  What I have to say about one of the pictures, I have to say about them all.  These are all from a single 30 minute outing one day after work.  And I'd like to add that it was a very cold day, probably only in the teens.  I work at a film studio, and like any good film studio, we have a back lot.  The back lot is a portion of the property that has permanent buildings that can be cleaned up and dressed up whenever needed.  There are so many great little details on all of the buildings.  They all have a lot of character, so it's fun to go look back there, and even more fun to take pictures.  I can't wait until it's warm and the trees aren't so dead looking.  The place has a whole different feel in the spring and summer.

detail from a barn
Canon Powershot A4000
f/3
1/60
ISO400
1/15/13, 4:26 pm
Provo, Utah

"Hanging On"
Canon Powershot A4000
f/3.5
1/100
ISO100
1/15/13, 4:16 pm
Provo, Utah

fancy doorknob detail

Canon Powershot A4000
f/3
1/60
ISO160
1/15/13, 4:32 pm
Provo, Utah