Showing posts with label Pet Photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pet Photography. Show all posts

Friday, April 26, 2013

Dog Photography: Hands-Free Camera Strap

Not too long ago we posted about one of our favorite camera accessories for taking photos indoors and in low-light settings.  We also have a favorite camera accessory that we use when taking photos outdoors at the park or while on a walk.  The Black Rapid RS Sport camera strap is the PERFECT accessory that allows us to be as hands-free as possible when getting action shots of Athena.


Hands-Free Photography:

It's already hard enough to juggle Athena and all of her accessories when we go to the park or out for a walk, so a gigantic camera is not something that we also want to worry about lugging around with us.  B went on the hunt to find a hands-free camera strap that would allow us to take our camera with us on our outdoor adventures, but wouldn't weigh us down.  He found the Black Rapid RS Sport camera strap, and although you still have to use one hand to click to take a picture, it's as hands-free as we're going to get!



Fancy Features:

The fanciest feature of this strap is that it has a metal fastener that attaches to the bottom of the camera allowing it to essentially hang from the strap.  The first time that I tried out the strap, I was afraid to let go of the camera in fear that it would disconnect from the fastener and break into a million pieces on the  floor.  Once I finally let go, I realized just how secure the camera is on the fastener even though it really is just dangling at my side.


The strap is great for getting quick action shots of Athena, especially when she's running after her ball at the park.  When we see her silly face running towards us, we simply slide the camera up the strap and click!  B's favorite feature of the strap are the two "stoppers" that allow him to choose where he wants the camera to hang so that it's easier to freely move the camera for getting the perfect picture.  The shoulder strap is also very comfortable and has thick memory foam padding.


See it in action:

Here's a little video that I took of B demonstrating the use of the camera strap (it also shows some of Athena's best training commands in action).  As you will see, we are at the park playing ChuckIt! with Athena.  B is able to launch a ball, interact with Athena, and take a few photos all at the same time!


And here are a couple of photos that B got during the photo shoot featured in the above video:



What's your favorite camera accessory?  How do you manage to get good action shots of your pooch?

Monday, November 5, 2012

A Night in Photos

Yesterday afternoon we made the plunge and bought ourselves a fancy dancy DSLR camera (I don't even know what DSLR means, but I know that it's fancier than what we had)!


We are the proud new owners of a Canon EOS Rebel T3i along with these accessories (all of which came in a very convenient bundle from BestBuy besides the 50mm lens):
Before finalizing our decision to get the Canon T3i, we researched a variety of DSLR cameras on the market.  Our research brought us to compare the Canon T3i, the Canon T4i, and the Nikon D5100.  All three of these cameras seemed to be very similar, however the Canon T4i had a higher price tag and advertised a faster shutter speed as well as touch screen capabilities.  Once at the store, we ruled out the T4i because at about $250 more, we really couldn't justify the need for slightly faster shutter speed and a touch screen.  This left us deciding between the Canon T3i and the Nikon D5100.  To be honest, I just have a thing for Canon and therefore we picked it because of the name brand.  Really, both cameras are very comparable and I'm sure either would do the job for a non-professional blogger photographer like myself!

After unboxing our new toy and waiting two hours for the battery to charge, B and I tested our skills and took a few pictures of our model Athena.

Testing out my aperture skills
Mom, I still have a little bit of green alien eyes!
No flash
Athena the snuggling picture poser
Our Canon PowerShot digital camera is soooooooo slow and I find it hard to get good "action" shots of Athena.  I am super excited to learn about photography and hopefully get some great pictures of Athena for the blog with our new camera!  Over the next couple of weeks I plan to watch a slew of online camera tutorials and read up on some excellent photography blogs such as kate with a camera and Click it Up a Notch.

What kind of camera do you use to get the perfect pictures of your pets?  Any suggestions for a first time DSLR owner?