Get Close

If you look up at the header to this page, you will see two dogs pictured there.  Moe is on the left and Danny is on the right.  You can immediately see I am no stranger to getting up close and personal with photographs. 

In some cases, getting close may mean leaving some things out, cutting some things off, or focusing on one element.  I am comfortable with that, although there are many people who are not.  Often, when I look at or listen to critiques of photographs in competition, judges will mention cut off areas.  The general rule:  THEY DO NOT LIKE THEM.  So if you are going to do photos for competitive purposes, my advice would be to leave all parts intact.

I think there is a lot of leeway in photography and that interpretation is something allowed the photographer.

Our dog, Danny, is not one that you can get "up in his grill" about with a camera.  He has his moments, mostly when he is relaxing, that he will let you get as close as I did in this photo, but in a studio setting, he would be absolutely uncooperative.  This photo is almost straight out of camera, except for a minor lighting adjustment.

When photographing strange dogs, I try to keep Danny in mind and I take my time in getting them relaxed enough to get closer.

Our cat, Barney, on the other hand, could care less what you do with your camera, and will allow you to almost touch your lens to his nose if you want to.  He is pretty much part cat and part slug, so if you catch him in slug mode, he will not move for hours at a time.

The photos of Danny and Barney were taken in the late evening in our family room with each in their favorite spot, so they were very relaxed.

Getting close with or without a macro lens (I did not use one, I used a 24-70mm lens at the wider setting, and came in close proximity to the subject each time), does allow you to focus in on one or two elements, like this puppy tongue, which is so pink and cute.

And, finally, there is Luke.  He is the only one that I almost managed to get all of his body pieces in the photo even though I was shooting at a close range.  Luke is our smallest dog, and he typically fits well into the frame.

As I said, I like close up, fill-the-frame photos and use them quite a bit.  In photography, it's a matter of taste and style.  Which do you prefer?  Close shots or long shots with more background in them?  For me a lot depends on what a client wants to express and the type of end product they want to hang on their wall.  So the situation will dictate the type of lens and shot.

For more photos that get you close, I hope you will visit the rest of the blog circle and see what everyone else has to offer.  Start with Lynda Mowat from Heartstrings Photography, based in Hamilton New Zealand.  Enjoy your weekend!