Shoot The Dog!

[snowbunny]

What is the pace like @snowbunny ?

It's not massively fast for this course. There are (IIRC) two "labs" a week, one based on skills and the other on a creative use of that skill, and you are led through them really precisely. You won't be working with live animals during the skills labs (I think the first one, for example, you will use three tins of food, or three bottles of wine etc) so they're easy to set up inside or in your garden. The creative labs allow you to use your dog if you wish, or you can choose a stationary subject if you'd prefer, such as a flower or somesuch. This course is about learning the fundamentals of the exposure triangle and how everything interacts, and starting to internalise that. There's reading material and videos to watch, which can be done at your own pace, and there's no "getting behind" - if you don't finish a week one lab until week two, that's fine, you can take it at your own pace and catch up again when you have free time. But I didn't find it a burden even with a hectic schedule.

 

[snowbunny]

@snowbunny how active is the FB study group? How often do mentors like you pop in to give advice? I'm a bit put off by the idea that there's a small core group off "cool kids" who participate at 100% and the rest who watch from the sidelines and kind of bumble along.

The study group is as active as the students make it. Sometimes it's quite busy, other times it's deathly quiet. I am on it pretty much all the time because of the fact I'm chained to my computer, and one of the others, Michelle, is super friendly and always willing to help out, too. She also works on her computer, and is just as verbose as I tend to be, so we can certainly help out and keep you honest

But I do understand the reticence to use FB. It's an often unpleasant place to be and you have to look after your mental health first and foremost.

 

[snowbunny]

So this is a dumb question borne of ignorance....but how would a new iPhone/smartphone compare to, say, the camera you use now, Fiona? I mean, I imagine it’s some grade of shit, but is it the biggest shitpile of the worst kind of shit ever shat, or just a small mound of garden-ready composted herbivore shit?

Wondering how much I am missing out on in relying entirely on my iPhone these days.

New cameraphones are great, the technology is improving all the time, and yes you can control the settings on them to some extent. But they have limitations based on their design. For example, the blurry background that you often see and people love is a property of physics: a combination of the focal length of the lens, how wide open the aperture is, and relative distances. It is not possible for a camera phone to create that blur through the same properties, so it is done through software. Which is OK, but often looks fake if you know what you're looking for. Obviously you can't expect to get significant reach on them like you can by attaching a long lens to a camera. The optics will never be as sharp, either.
But, they are convenient, and you can still do a lot with them. There's a saying that "the best camera is the one you have with you", and very often that's your camera phone. A DSLR is something you have to take out with intentions. The new mirrorless cameras are far, far smaller and lighter, but it's still not going to be in your pocket all day every day. Some of the newer camera phones even allow you to shoot in RAW, and attach some sorts of lenses to them. They are improving all the time, and maybe one day they will surpass a DSLR or mirrorless camera. But that's still a long way from being true. It just depends on what quality you're happy with, to be honest. Much of the battle is composition and storytelling, and you can certainly do that with a camera phone. I never do - my phone pictures are always horribly composed because I just don't care enough about them. They're just capturing a moment, and will never be something I get printed to put on my wall. I approach photography with my real camera with thoughtfulness and care.

 

[snowbunny]

I would definitely recommend having a go at this. I don't know this particular course but it looks good. And I don't think it's at all essential to have super expensive kit to get good results. Quite a few smart phones, for example, have a proper camera mode where you can work the phone camera just like a full blown DSLR. I take most of my day by day photos on my phone these days after attending a lecture by a professional photographer who does all her work on an iPhone.

For this course you need a DSLR or mirrorless camera. But you can pick up a decent second-hand DSLR for cheap. To start off, it doesn't need to be fancy schmancy - to be honest it never does. Of course there will be limitations with entry-level cameras (the number of frames per second and its capabilities in low light to mention a couple) but you can still learn a tonne and work out what features you want if you do decide to upgrade later on, once you've worked out what sort of photography speaks to you best. For example, if you're a landscape or studio portrait photographer, you don't need the same low light or FPS as, say, an action photographer would do. Part of the process is learning what type of photographer you want to be, and the answer is often surprising!

 

[snowbunny]

You can't beat good advice from a good professional. Last week I spent just 20 minutes with the professional photographer who takes photos of cars for me for customers on our track days. He started by "breaking the mould". We forgot auto functions on my camera and set it for manual mode with auto ISO. I'd never have thought of that.

Amy teaches us to shoot in full manual (not even auto ISO). The mantra is, "you are smarter than your camera"

This course is entirely about that. She starts off by using aperture priority and shutter speed priority as a means to simplify everything, but very quickly you start bringing it all together so that you're making all the technical and creative decisions and not letting the camera second-guess what you're after. It takes a while to internalise it, and I still remember the day where I suddenly realised that I no longer had to talk out loud to myself as I was changing my settings: "If I want it to be brighter, I need to let in more light, which means (for this photo) I am widening my aperture, which means I have to make the number smaller". It was a very cool moment of recognition that I was starting to "get it" and didn't have to think through each tiny little thing!

 

[Sophiedoodle]

You definitely get a lot more out of gold. If you really want to do it at gold I can put in a good word for you and see if she’ll open up another spot

I really appreciate the thought, however, I think I will maybe just go with the bronze one for now. Since Oreo will be away having her babies for 6-7 weeks, I wouldn't have my model (Lilly gets bored with photos and doesn't cooperate!) and I wouldn't be able to keep up with the others doing the gold class..
I do have some knowledge of camera aperture etc. from a previous course I did a few years back at the Scottish Deer Centre (that was amazing, I'll try and dig out some photos I took!), but would definitely like the modules/coursework to look through and work with. If I decide that I would actually like feedback/help with it, then maybe I'll sign up for the gold next time

 

[Oberon]

Thanks for your considered answer to my dumb question!

 

[snowbunny]

Not a dumb question at all and I try to not be too snobby about it
There’s a lot of dismissiveness of camera phones in certain quarters and I can understand why but the tech in them is improving so much faster than the same in “real” cameras that it’s hard to imagine that they won’t come close some day. Will you ever be able to get the range of a 600mm lens, or the low light capabilities of the top of the range cameras? Not for a while, but maybe some day.

At the end of the day, if you can get the results you’re happy with from the equipment you have, that’s all that counts. As I learn more, my criteria change and become more precise and I know that, right now, there is no camera phone that would give me the results I deem acceptable for what I’m shooting. For other disciplines it may be fine.

@Sophiedoodle and @Emily_Babbelhund I’ve asked Amy if I can be a TA for this class, and Michelle for the more advanced “Chase the Dog” class which would mean that we can actually double up and both be TAs for both, meaning you will get two of us helping out in the FB study group if you wish to join. Emily, I had a thought that you could create a link direct into the group which means that, once joined up, you wouldn’t even have to touch the rest of FB, just click the link and go straight in.

 

[Beanwood]

I'm IN!!

Looking around now for a half decent second hand DSLR to part -ex with my camera..

 

[Sophiedoodle]

@Sophiedoodle and @Emily_Babbelhund I’ve asked Amy if I can be a TA for this class, and Michelle for the more advanced “Chase the Dog” class which would mean that we can actually double up and both be TAs for both, meaning you will get two of us helping out in the FB study group if you wish to join

That would be amazing

 

[HAH]

How about we set up our own four week Mission Impossible forum recall challenge? Not a competition but we can look separately at some elements such as focus, self-control and frustration tolerance and build in some games to help.

YES PLEASE!! I’d be massively up for this if there’s time/enthusiasm amongst you pros

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

That would be amazing

I agree, Sophie!

 

[snowbunny]

OK so I'm already whipping up some enthusiasm in the FB group. Here's the ink. You need to send a screenshot of your library page showing you've registered to the admin to join. But I'm sure if you guys do your bit in posting you assignments and I keep whipping up the enthusiasm then there will be some momentum in the group

Bei Facebook anmelden

Melde dich bei Facebook an, um dich mit deinen Freunden, deiner Familie und Personen, die du kennst, zu verbinden und Inhalte zu teilen.

www.facebook.com

 

[snowbunny]

I'm IN!!

Looking around now for a half decent second hand DSLR to part -ex with my camera..

I started with a Nikon D7100 and a kit lens. That is more than enough to start off with. From what I've seen, you can pick that combo up for around GBP150 on ebay. Eventually I upgraded my lenses because that's the first thing to do, then eventually got the full frame body.
I don't know what the Canon/Sony equivalents are, but for me it was a really good start for what was necessary for this course.

 

[snowbunny]

This is a really good Sony option. Amy is a Canon and Nikon chick but to be honest, Sony and Canon are the way the industry is going right now. Not necessarily for these entry level cameras, but if you start buying decent glass to fit the body then it's easier to stay in brand later on.

Sony Alpha A6000 24.3MP Digital Camera - Black (Body Only) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Sony Alpha A6000 24.3MP Digital Camera - Black (Body Only) at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

The first thing you will do when (not if ) you want to upgrade is look at your lenses, but pro glass is expensive, so you might as well check out if this is something you're really interested in first, and this sort of rig will allow you to work that out.

 

[Beanwood]

I am going to stick with Nikon for now I think..hoping to move to Canon mirrorless one day...

 

[David]

I kicked off with a Canon EOS 100 with the amateur market lenses. This was a film camera. The picture quality was always average and I put it down to me rather than kit. I then dabbled with medium format for a while with a Bronica SQA and a good 50mm Sony Lens. The results could be phenomenal but speed was definitely not on the menu, so once the digital camera era was well and truly established I went back to Canon and bought an EOS 500D but with a Canon L-series pro lens. The lens was three times the price of the camera but was SO worth it. I realised the early EOS100 mediocrity was down to lens quality. When it was time to upgrade the camera the original Canon L-series lens was still fine and also still under manufacture 10 years later so that pushed me to just upgrade the camera body to full frame. I'm now pretty much locked into Canon with 3 pro lenses and accessories that cover pretty much everything I want to dabble in.

I guess what I'm coming round to is it's well worth doing a bit of research on which camera manufacturer you go with prior to the commitment because if you like the hobby you'll likely get locked in to that one make.

I went down the Canon route purely because at the time (over 10 years ago now) the Canon USM focussing system beat the pants off Nikon and for action photography (I had a hankering that never came to anything) Canon won. I'm now pretty much locked into Canon purely because of the lens situation!

 

[snowbunny]

Yep, that's the issue! Nikon will catch up with Canon and Sony in terms of mirrorless capabilities - and TBH Amy had significant issues shooting agility with the R5 and R6 at the last trial she was at, so they're not perfect for everything yet either. That's her bread and butter, being the official show photographer for many of the top agility trials in the US.
In other places of the world (ie the USA) it's perfectly feasible to sell your old gear for a reasonable pricein order to switch brands, but that's just not possible here. Interestingly, Amy often buys used lenses, too - she rents with the option to buy from companies like LensRentals, and they give every single lens a calibration and service, which is something you don't get with brand new lenses! So you can actually get a secondhand lens that's better than a brand new one!

All the lenses I have now are pro lenses. I have a 20mm prime and would LOVE to get some more primes because the quality is just incredible. But, of course, you lose the flexibility of the zoom, and I find switching lenses a bit of a hassle. I really want a super wide, in the range of 10-14mm for the comedy it can bring to dog photos

 

[David]

I really want a super wide, in the range of 10-14mm for the comedy it can bring to dog photos

Ah! The super long nose and weird eyes!

 

[snowbunny]

Wide angle dogs are the BEST!

https://www.dogbreathphoto.com/ztkzinwng97v1nsww8uic7yat9tpyu