Saturday, August 20, 2011

Mirror Mirror...

Mirror Mirror


Dog Blog Post #421: Don't you just love it when you can take care of two things with the same task? Today's Daily Shoot was...

Saturday: Play with reflections in a photograph today.

... which just so happens to line up with Scavenge Challenge (SC) item...

9) Using a mirror, photograph any subject and its reflection. Black and white, please.

Woo Hoo!

I haven't tried getting a mirror picture with the boys before, so I admit to being quite curious what would happen.

This was "Set" shot - with the ex-pen used to hold up the backboard, which was draped in white fleece (since I wanted to end up B&W) with black fabric on the ground.

As usual, when I'm trying something totally new, I started with Zachary. At this point it is more out of habit than necessity, as each dog brings both plusses and minuses to the shoot.

Mirror Mirror
This version went to Scavenge Challenge, the other to Daily Shoot.


Zachary is more reliable with this stay, because Zachary is less bothered by whatever I'm going to be doing. Henry is still a puppy inside, and New Things must be investigated, making stays a bit harder for him at first.

On the down side, Zachary likes to be working, and Doing Nothing has always been his weakest skill.

Today, since the mirror was totally new to the boys and I wasn't even sure how I was going to shoot it, I went with "experience" and let Zachary in.

Poor Zachary, had to put up with me sliding him forward, backward, position his paws in various ways, facing the window with mirror darker vs. back to the window with face in shadow but mirror well lit,  moving my hand/treat around to get expression/head angle, trying out timer on tripod vs. handheld with treat jar, and shifting the camera about constantly to try to find something that would look good in "summer lighting" (ie: the dark).

Mirror Mirror


Sadly, while I learned much, I never did get a great picture of him, but by the time I switched to Henry I knew exactly what I wanted and banged out quite a few. My favorites are above, although the one below of Zachary has a soft spot in my heart just because he tried so hard to please me. :)

Test Subject
"Like this?"
For the curious, the shots of Henry are all handheld using a ramekin filled with treats just off camera (a few inches behind the mirror) to get Henry to focus where I wanted.

Anyone have a preference between the color vs. b&w shot? I'd love to hear it!

© 2011 BZ Training - All Rights Reserved

7 comments:

Golden Woofs! SUGAR said...

Woof! Woof! I say they both did a great job. We got a big mirror and love to look at myself. My mom can never get a good shot of me. Maybe will try a small mirror. Always find BW being nostalgic. Favorite photo is the last one. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

Sage said...

I love the black & white--there's something about the lack of color that makes a photo a bit special.

houndstooth said...

Congratulations on getting Explore again with it! You're definitely a better shutterbug than I am!

I love all the shots, and it's still hard for me to pick a favorite. I think I prefer the color shot, because the blue in the background of the mirror draws more attention to the shot.

I am so torn on today's assignment! I am REALLY tempted to go with the jar again because I'm having a hard time thinking of another scenario that goes with the assignment. *sigh* And maybe because I wanted to try shooting it again, too...

Pamela said...

You didn't mention either of the boys responding to their reflection in the mirror. Was that an issue?

I find Honey gets very curious when she sees her reflection.

BTW, I agree with Carrie. The color shot was my favorite.

Greyhounds CAN Sit said...

I like the colour one best too. Just something about the blue in the mirror going so well with Zachary's colouring, and also bringing out the chrome around the mirror. What I can't understand is how if you used a white fleece for the backdrop, how come it looks blue?

greygirl25 said...

I am usually a vibrant color kinda girl and when I switch to black and white it is because the white balance is way outta whack and I can't fix it.

I prefer the black and white. The tones are beautiful and he seems to pop off of the background much better.

Kristin G. said...

Very nice!! Isn't it amazing what a ramekin full of treats can do.