Thursday, May 1, 2008

Hold that Pose!

The other day my mom and I were chatting, via gmail, and she tells me how a Papillion breeder sent her a cute profile pic of one of her pups. I guess this pup is really hyper and she had been having the hardest time getting a good still photo of him.

My mom then pastes in the message from the breeder, who was more than willing to share her photographic tip:

Judy: Judy, I took a picture of him while he was taking a dump and cropped it down so only his head was left. Otherwise all photos are taken on the fly and come out blurry from the high speed. The nice thing about digital is you can take lots of pictures and then manipulate them so only the best parts of the photo are left.

me: are you kidding me???? That is so gross! What about holding a treat in front of the dogs nose and making them hold still for it?

Judy: This is a totally serious photo tip. I knew you would appreciate it.

me: yeah right! I mean any tip with the word 'dump' in it is totally serious.

Judy: REMEMBER. This pup has never had a good pic b/c he is always on the move.

me: what about when the pup is sleeping?

Judy: I knew that you, as a photographer, would appreciate this, since animals and babies are notoriously difficult to photograph. If you had seen previous photos, you would think this is a winner.

me: yeah I did take 200+ photos this past weekend and probably got 70 that I liked.

Judy: Now that I know he was pooping, the picture isn't so cute.
In fact, I think it is ruined for me

me: I know! It’s awful! Ask her for the un-cropped version.

Judy: Are you serious?
She is a really bad photographer. She was bragging about her new camera, etc, but we never got a photo for about 6 months, and they ALL were blurry when she finally sent them

me: no

Judy: Oh, you don't want the un-cropped version?
I think that would be a real winner for the blog

me: are you serious? I can't believe she was bragging about it

Judy: totally bragging

me: well I don't even know if I need the original photo. Just knowing that she is grunting one out, makes you know that it’s a legit look.

Judy: I can't get it out of my mind!

me: I had to get that off my screen!

Judy: So it might be the camera that is holding her back. She could be getting action shots, but, instead, she has to wait for someone to crap. It is a long wait.

me: ummmmm that might be part of it, but I’m sure if a photographer has to rely on his/her subjects dropping a deuce...it may be more than the camera, ya know?

Judy: LOL
I wish she hadn't told me

me: I know!
Did you ask her how she got the shot?

Judy: No, I just complimented her b/c it wasn't blurry
The first unblurry photo ever from her

me: oh geesh!
I can't believe she shared that info

Judy: Yeah. She just spilled her guts…it was more info than I needed


So here is the photo below… what do you think?

This could be a whole new revolution in photography…for pets and humans! You know I bet there is a website already out there that is dedicated to this subject. First one that finds it gets a steaming hot smelly bag delivered to their front door!

3 comments:

Sarah said...

OMG That is disgusting! You know my brother is really fast too. He's always on the move and it can be difficult to get a pic of him that isn't blurry. I don't think I'm a dedicated enough photographer to use this "totally serious photo tip." But thanks anyway.

Anonymous said...

Nice trick, but it won't work for babies. Quinn sits still too, but her watery eyes and red nose during a poop doesn't make for the cutest picture.

Unknown said...

LOL! Amber, I can't believe you actually used this
silly conversation. From the comments you have received, it looks like the revolution in photographic technic is stll not on the horizon.