The Official 30 Day Pet Portrait Thread

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

10/15/2006 08:32:25 PM · #604

Looking at

Sherpets pics I thought that this needed to be done. Hopefully she doesnt get too mad at me posting it but I think it works very well as a tryptich.

sherpet

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

10/15/2006 08:53:07 PM · #605

Here is my Day 16 image of Gemma.....

In responce to Tim, re the image of the "tripych" he did of Gemma.....

I love it....love, love, love it.....Thanks Tim.....You are tops in my book.....

Originally posted by timfythetoo:

Looking at Sherpets pics I thought that this needed to be done. Hopefully she doesnt get too mad at me posting it but I think it works very well as a tryptich.

Message edited by author 2006-10-15 20:55:14.

jeannybeany

Canon PowerShot SD200

10/15/2006 09:18:41 PM · #606

Day 13 More Molly... movin around

Day 14 Oliver!! A great dog!!

xXxscarletxXx

Nikon D80

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED DX

10/15/2006 10:53:27 PM · #607

Lolly the chook

sherpet

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

10/15/2006 11:02:58 PM · #608

A great collection here, well done.....

Originally posted by UrfaTheGreat:

Introducing.. ButterParrot

Lone ranger... 0_o I'm getting cornier by the minute..

My parrot is not good at hiding..

sherpet

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

10/15/2006 11:26:21 PM · #609

"WOW"..... thank goodness I have finally caught up with all my commenting.
Come on everyone, please leave some commments, as I found quite a few without any comments.

MikeJ

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

10/16/2006 12:58:44 AM · #610

Days, uh,... oh, I'm losing track but it's the last couple of days.

Here is another shot of Dyna. I put a large mirrored steel ball on the floor and she started play bowing to it and moving up close and jumping back thinking there was another puppy inside. It was funny.

Another couple of shots of Dyna. I'm teaching her to stand on the crate to show her form.

And another:

Mike

ShutterPug

Canon EOS-6D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

10/16/2006 02:27:27 AM · #611

Day 15 :

Message edited by author 2006-10-16 02:27:39.

Pug-H

Pentax K10D

Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical HF for Pentax

10/16/2006 04:45:21 AM · #612

I've got Day Fifteen. It starts on Page 2 of the Sharlene Gallery.

xianart

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

10/16/2006 06:55:13 AM · #613

Dday 16 is up and ...sitting. the spatchcock dog, for your pleasure.

10/16/2006 08:32:55 AM · #614

Hairball again.

10/16/2006 09:01:11 AM · #615

commenting?
is anyone else finding it difficult to comment on the pet portraits?
there's only so many times you can write "cute cat" or "awwww, what a sweetie".
Iâ��m sorry, I donâ��t mean to sound mean.
But as this isn't really an official challenge, i find myself trying to hold back on the technical comments.
I've actually been slipping a few in here and there, but I don't want to discourage anyone by saying "this would be better if it was in focus" or "the background is distracting".
Although someone did PM me and say that they didn't mind me saying those sorts of things.

Anyway, what about the rest of you?
Do you think it's ok to give some constructive criticism to the photos or would you rather receive a "pretty polly" comment?

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

10/16/2006 09:08:07 AM · #616

Originally posted by UNCLEBRO:

Do you think it's ok to give some constructive criticism to the photos or would you rather receive a "pretty polly" comment?

I understand where you are coming from. I think the take on this round is different and more challenging than the SP thread. Set ups are more difficult and all of the shots tend to be more of a candid nature (except for those of you with well trained dogs - oh yeah and Pug-h). My focus here shifted to post processing and attempting to bring out something extra with that. I havent commented enough but I try to at least hit the ones that impacted me from thumbnail one way or another. Personally I love the constructive criticism. But it does seem that nowadays in DPC land you need to let people know that you are available for it without anyone fearing a sense of repercussions.

dassilem

Nikon D90

10/16/2006 09:38:05 AM · #617

I think a fine mix of both....the key word I like is 'constructive' criticism. My shots could all get technically blasted....so no that wouldn't be all fun...but if there were hints/tips to be shared I would appreciate them.

I have noticed in my quest, that it appears that all my cats do is eat and sleep (surprise?) Nearly every shot of spooky is taken in the same place/different day....

bs-photos

Pentax K7

Pentax DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL AF

10/16/2006 09:46:43 AM · #618

Day 15
"No Pictures Please"

10/16/2006 09:49:52 AM · #619

I also think that these pictures are harder because they are like pictures of children.
Everyone thinks their kid is the cutest and everyone thinks their pet is the cutest.
There's nothing wrong with that, I think my cats are cute whatever they do.
But it's hard to view other people pets in the same light.
You can appreciate what they are thinking and what they maybe saw when they took the picture, but sometimes it's difficult to offer anything sincere.
On one of Fotomannâ��s early pictures I told him that I meant no offence, but I didn't really like small dogs, I don't really have a reason, but they just don't appeal to me.
So it then gets difficult to offer any comment other than a technical constructive criticism.
Sure I could give an insincere "cute dog" comment, but I'd rather not.

Re-reading this it seems as though I'm making a big deal out of nothing really.

So I'll sum it all up with:

Which would you rather receive:

1) a "cute dog/cat/bird" type of comment.
2) a "good picture but the background is distracting" type of comment.
3) no comment at all.
4) or for me just to shut the hell up and get back to commenting however the hell I want!!!!!

10/16/2006 09:53:52 AM · #620

I would take #4.

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

10/16/2006 09:58:13 AM · #621

Originally posted by timfythetoo:

I would take #4.

fair enough :-)

xianart

Canon EOS-7D

10/16/2006 10:11:56 AM · #622

Originally posted by timfythetoo:

I would take #4.

go for it! i guess that's part of why i haven't been commenting much on this - that and sheer laziness...

Siggav

Nikon D80

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED DX

10/16/2006 10:35:56 AM · #623

I'm happy to get constructive crits. I know my cat is absolutely gorgeous so I don't think anyone could pick on her for not being pretty enough ;)

However it's true with pet photos, it's all about capturing the moment and sometimes you let a sub par photo slip through because the moment is good enough.

However I'm trying hard in most of them to get it all together. It's hard to set up photos but it's possible to try to keep the background ok and pick the right moment and then use post processing to finish the photo.

I love taking pictures of animals and to be honest I think around 65% of all the photos I've taken with my D50 have been of my cat (with another 10% of my fish).

Because of the limitations you get when you're working with a not very co-operative animal it's very hard to get a fantastic capture but when you do it's really something special.

Of course there is the factor which you have whenever you're photographing something beautiful (or cute) where it's easy to do a mediocre picture just because the subject matter is so pretty/cute/majestic and because there are *so* many people who like their cats there is a bit of a oh no not another cat photo element which I run into regularely. Which can be frustrating when I'm trying really hard to create a good photograph that stands on it's own.

(I do think this principle applies just as much to other subjects, like sunsets, beautiful people, flowers, children, landscapes etc. although there seems to be an especially strong reaction against cat photos, probably through oversaturation of mediocre ones)

I understand that impulse though and some of my most popular shots have been just pure snapshots that work just because the cat is just SO cute. Like this one here:

I know not all the photos in my current 30 day pet portrait group are brilliant. It's hard to try to get a new one every day, especially because I'm away at work during the day and I'm reliant on natural light to try get good photos (so my best ones tend to be taken during the weekends)

whitewolf

Nikon D7100

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED VR

10/16/2006 10:51:52 AM · #624

SIGGAV
I'm really enjoying your cat photos - Not looking for "purrfection" I'm not a major cat person (ruined by my mom and a friend or two through the years) but there are so many beautiful cats in here that I'm reminded of how wonderfully funny, incredibly cute and warm a cat can be. They're naturally photogenic - you can't go wrong.
I know we all take our photos seriously but this is also a fun thread -Your photos capture all that!