The other day when I was at the Farmer's Market, a crowd gathered around Miss M as I took her photo telling me "I can't believe she's actually posing". Maybe it's because our pooches give us such great material to work with, or because we do have so much fun walking around taking photos, but we have developed quite the collection of cameras. Here are some of the things we're using:
Nikon DSLR
Most of our blog photos are taken with our Nikon DSLR 7000 using a 50mm lens. We've learned that it's really up to having good lenses, as most DSLR bodies will suffice, but we like having more control over the photos we're taking for a clear image and the blurred background effect. I still have a lot to learn about photography and learning about the settings on my camera, and I'm excited to take this on as a new summer project.
Diana F+
This is
a cute 'toy camera' that still uses film and takes serendipitous photos that look circa 1970's. Part of the intrigue is in the wait to get the film developed, and it's cute enough that it also looks like an accessory; we keep ours in
our City Dog Essentials bag so we can always take cool photos when we're out and about.
You can read about it and see more of our photos here.
Lomography Fisheye Number 2
Another film toy camera, this one
has a fisheye lens to distort the view and turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Using it for the day is like living in one of those fun photo montages, with the final excitement developing your film and seeing how it turns out. You can read more
about it and see more of our photos here.
GoPro HD Hero 960
Photo Courtesy of Mr. B and his GoPro
Since we have our own cameras, Mr. B thought he should get in on the action too. The GoPro camera is typically used to get a different view of high impact sports, though we learned it works just perfect to
take video from our pooches' point of view (wouldn't you smile big too if everyone reacted to you like that?) and you can set it to take photos every couple of seconds. Mr B
has become quite the videographer on our SociaBulls walks, you can read more about
Mr. B's camera here.
i-Phone 8mm Camera App
We used to love our Flip camera, but now that they've been phased out we've been loving the new i-Phone apps. The 8mm camera app offers a variety of settings (my favorite is 1970's!) to make even the most commonplace video extraordinary. You can see what we mean with
this movie here with SuperLevi's big debut.
Instagram
I know I'm always a step behind the bandwagon, but I'm just starting to learn more about Instagram. Instagram is like the digital version of our Diana F+, only with instant results and more options. I'm still learning about how it works, and we've just starting posting some of our instagrams the on
our Facebook here.
We love all the variety and fun photosharing techniques that have become so easy with social media. Just curious what everyone else has been using; is the big trend in learning real photographic techniques? The simplicity of smartphone apps? Or old school film cameras?
9 comments:
Very nice post. Thank you for sharing!
I've recently discovered PicMonkey.com, it is totally free (for now it says!) and has some really awesome effects like Instagram, as well as super easy touch ups for color, contrast, brightness, etc. It also does red eye, blemish fix, etc. I love how user friendly it is, I take a ton of pictures of my two dogs but I am a novice when it comes to editing.
I know what you mean about a crowd and people being surprised the dogs are actually posing. Bunny is the best, but Morgan excels at it, too! Kuster not so much! And Blueberry's head wobbles when she gets excited, so she's more challenging.
I use a Nikon DSLR and I LOVE it! I want to try some more iPhone apps, but I'm always at a loss as to where to start with them. I have a Flip, too, and am still bummed that they're phasing them out. And I'm always fascinated by your "toy" cameras!
I think you might like knowing that my dog really DOES pose for the camera--when I point one at her, whether it is my point-and-shoot or my Canon DSLR with the 100mm lens, she holds absolutely still! She also gets excited any time I pick my camera up (and since I'm something of a photographer, that's often) and will come running from elsewhere in house where she was just moments ago in a deep sleep, sneezing with excitement, the moment she hears me take the lens cap off! The 100mm lens is not all that practical for photographing dogs out and about (though it makes a wonderful portrait lens) because it is actually intended for macro photography and you have to stand waaaaaay back from your dog if you want to fit her in the frame! The 50mm lens you're using should be just right for on-the-walk pooch photography.
Love the way she sits, BOL
Benny & Lily
@Colleen: So funny because Miss M is a poser too! It's funny because so many people stop and comment about how she's posing (and it's tomorrow's post!).
I love the fish eye camera - I wonder if there is an iphone app that could mimic it? I have recently become obsessed with instagram now that I finally have an iphone. I think my non-dog-loving friends are getting sick of the 10 zillion photos of the dogs! ;)
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