Cats at Screen Door...Specializing in Pet Photography

My business as a pet photographer is in the early stages. I have been a photographer for a while but as a business effort will now specialize more in pet and animal photography.  Prior to the publication of my photographers website, I will upload a few photos of pets and animals to the Landing Heron blog.  You will notice a wide range of styles in the photographs yet one common thread will run through most all:  The animals will be photographed in their own settings, their homes, their places to play and live with their family.

There is a move away from the formal posed image in many types of personal photography. Whether a couple in love, a graduating senior, your family or your animals, there is a preference for natural and outdoor photos. The photos we take are intended to show your  pet as you recognize and know it.   Whether curled on your lap or running to you in yard or field, I want your pet to be as you know it everyday. After all, these are the memories and mental images we have of the animals in our lives. (Formal photos may be arranged as the client desires.)

The apparent starkness of the photo below speaks strongly to the family where these cats reside. Yes, we have beauty shots of these kitties and we have them as seen here...wanting to go outside knowing they must wait for another day.  Standing in a sun beam, they breath the air following a rain that left the screen littered with debris. They soak in a taste of the woods behind their home.

I plan to have my website up fairly soon.  There you may see much more of  my work, purchase images or schedule a time for me to visit, meet your animals and plan a session of photography in familiar settings.  Of course, photos may include you with your pets and photos of family members in natural settings. One secret to great pet and family photos is to walk around, sit down and talk with the photographer about what you have in mind. By taking this time with the photographer, you see if  there is a good match of your ideas and his/her styles and techniques. Pets are not expected to pose, quite the opposite is generally true!  We take the time, work with you and your animals to get the photos you will call "keepers" now and treasures later.

This is a photo of Molly, the same cat at the right in the previous photograph.  I did both shots in monotone for easier comparison.  The two photos show examples of different moods and moments. 
You may see Molly elsewhere in this blog. I am writing her story, tiny piece by tiny piece.


The kitties shown live in my house.  When the website is up and running, you will see a variety of pets and animals, including horses and perhaps a llama or two.  While cats and dogs are the family pets most seen, other animals are certainly included in what we do with photography.

Capturing the essence of personality with a still photograph is very difficult and often calls for a little good fortune. For example, this Great Pyrenees mix is a quite large dog but its personality instills calm and brings forth smiles.  

As part of  H.A.B.I.T. , the Human Animal Bond in Tennessee organization out of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine,  this dog visits residents in a nursing and personal care facility. The face you see is the face seen by the residents.  Of course, they run their hands on the thick fur and spend time with this "friend".  A kind volunteer allowed us to take the photo.  That face does catch some of the personality and the intent was achieved.

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Thomas Haynes is a photographer working out of Clinton, Tennessee, a city just north of Knoxville. His photography is often of a fine arts direction but as in this post, his love of nature takes him again to the Clinch River Raptor Center, a rehabilitation and educational not-for-profit organization.. Visit Thomas and see more of his photography at  Facebook

 Contact Thomas to discuss photography you want done. 

Tulip Poplar Flower, Art in Nature Photos and Mini Tutorial

High above me tulip poplar trees reach for the sun and hide a beauty not seen until it the wind comes. Then a  flower  may break loose and tumble to the ground.  From the trees where I stood, the flower may fall from 50 to 70 feet. Often the tulip poplar flower will break into parts and leave incomplete flowers as shown.  These two sections were in different areas of the woods.  Did you know these straight, tall trees have flowers?  Scarcely will the flowers be noticed by a passerby.

I found art in nature with these flower sections and a pebble  nearby.  My interpretations came from making arrangements of the flowers and the pebble then taking the photographs.  This as with other forms of art will find favor with some viewers. Others may wonder why I think this is art and believe I wasted my time.  

A very good thing about art:  Art comes in all varieties and so does human taste and preferences in such.

I believe the images became more appealing as the arrangement was altered.  The one below has better balance to the eye than the one above.

The final image is next.  Read further to see how the photography was done.  More than that, enjoy this simple view of natural things forming a unique still life composition.

 

HOW THESE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE DONE

For anyone interested, I will tell exactly what I did to take these photographs. I looked for a backdrop and the flower was placed  first on a wood railing near where I was standing. That did not show the flower well enough. I decided a white background was wanted  and for that got a piece of white foam core board. The flower sections and pebble were arranged.  The sunlight was quite spotty and I had to be certain the light was on the subject and at an angle to best show the tiny treasures from nature.  

Exposure needed to show the poplar flower clearly and give a white background.  To do this, I used spot metering. What is that?  Some cameras have a setting to allow a portion of the view to be used to set the exposure. Normally the camera will average the light for the entire field of view, however, for these photos averaged exposure would put too much white in the mix and the camera would lower the exposure to accomodate the bright white. The white would be less than white and the flower would be too dark. To get what was wanted,  I set the camera to figure the exposure using a small portion or "spot" of the view and that portion was the flower and pebble.  Exposure  determined this way would allow the proper exposure and the white would be even whiter.   If your camera does not have spot metering, the exposure should be set manually.  Using manual exposure, find a shutter speed where you can hold the camera steady enough to get a clear photo and set the aperture (lens opening) to get a decent exposure of the flower.  Using a digital camers allows a peek at the viewing screen to see if the exposure is close to what you want. Adjust as needed. Keep in mind that shutter speed and aperture work together: If one is adjusted, so must the other to keep the same exposure. To alter the exposure to darker or brighter, use either aperture or shutter speed alone.

The lens used was a 105mm macro lens, standing back far enough to get all in focus. I used manual focus.  Close shots with a macro lens would make part of the image in focus and part fuzzy.  A higher number aperture will help expand the depth of field  ( range of focus) but will require adjusting the shutter speed to keep the exposure you want. That in a nutshell is how the photos were shot.  E-mail me if you have questions. For now, I am content to look at the photos and see the little details in the flower parts. Isn't nature grand!

Azalea Blossom and Design for Life

These flowers are part of a celebration of Spring. As Passover season begins and Christian Easter is observed, beauty in creation is seen in tiny and large ways.  As for Easter, there will be more rabbits and colored eggs for the fun Easter than thanksgiving for the Messiah. I wish the children knew of both Easter games and the hope given all through the Christ crucified and risen. We will smile as children play and thank our Creator for our blessings.  With the sound of happy children there will be eyes blessed with beauty...the fortunate ones.  For those suffering now, there will be no Easter eggs but the hope of the Christ can be in their hearts. We pray for peace.

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This close view of an Azalea blossom is for all who visit here. Do you see the pistil  surrounded by the stamens with pollen showing there?  Bumblebees visited these blossoms today and with each visit for a taste of nectar, the bee carried with it a touch of pollen. That pollen when touched to the pistil of another bloom will pollinate the flower, the process leading to creation of seed.

 

These parts of a beautiful flower blossom are intriguing in design.  Still, what do I see with my eyes and not the close lens of the camera?  We see the flower..its form and color and beauty.  This welcome to a new season is what truly catches emotion and joy.

Spring: New Life and Beautiful Blossoms of Redbud Trees

Winter almost did not happen here this year. It slipped in for a few cold days and a taste of snow flakes then  skipped away with a smile and spring on its heels. All the trees and plants are telling us it really is spring time.  This is the time of new life and beauty when nature takes off the winter garb and steps out in fresh spring fashion.  For spring fragrances, it is the sweet and familiar smell of the hyacinths.  Sensitive noses take note, as nice as is the fragrance, it is quite powerful and one in the home may be too much for anyone sensitive to aroma.  I enjoy a whiff  of the sweet fragrance but do not keep a hyacinth in my room. Growing free in the flower bed is my best choice.   This blue hyacinth has been given a special artistic touch in the photograph.

 

Blue Hyacinth, survived the recent rain and hail 

A dependable and favorite of this time of the year is the Eastern Redbud tree.  This would be a perfect tree for Valentine's Day...but we all know the timing is off for that.  Let's make it a tree for love in general and a signal of the new life around us.  Do you like that idea?  Personally, I like it better than the Bradford Pear trees which even if pretty have unfortunately been over planted as architectural elements.

Redbud is also my top choice of an Easter tree.  New life, love and transformation are symbolized in the new buds and the heart shaped leaves. The events of Easter are symbolic to Christians of the transformation of Christ and the promise of a new life to come, all based in the love of the Creator for mankind. 

In the photo do you see the transformation hiding in open sight?   The cocoon is an example of amazing metamorphosis we may personally watch.  If the cocoon on the branch has not been robbed, quite soon a moth will emerge.  Who knows when that will happen and will anyone be there to see?  I have not identified the cocoon; if for a bag-worm moth, people will not think the new moth is very pretty.  Regardless of its looks, the transformation is one of the remarkable events of creation.

New life and a metamorphosis...

. Click image for larger view

Red-tailed Hawk, Flying Hunting

This is another Red-tailed hawk without a red tail.  The other one is in a previous post and lives at the Clinch River Raptor Center. The hawk in this post lives in the wild, hunting and living and raising its family in nature. Why no red tail?  It is too young for that.  Read the other post to learn more about that bit of growing up for these hawks. The one at the center now has a full red tail.

Now, here is the tale of the photos you will see here.

My wife was driving and she said a hawk just dove into a field.  Of course, this means it was hunting lunch and might have caught it.  We went back and parked at the edge of the field which was bordered on the far side with a woods line.  Soon enough I saw the hawk flying over the field.  Did it get lunch?  We do not know but it was certainly hunting as we watched.  It went back and forth high above the field and into the woods line. Then it reappeared and was coming our way. I hoped it would get close enough for a photo or two.  It did, not close enough for a really sharp photo but the best in-flight raptor photos in a long year.

We were leaving lunch on a Sunday when it all happened.  The lens in the camera was a zoom, 18mm to 200mm.  You can figure 1x (one magnification) for each 50mm with a 35mm camera and with the digital camera I had with me.  At 200mm, that meant the magnification was about 4x, not as strong as a pair of 7x binoculars.  That lens was not long enough to get closer photos!   Also, as the lens was zoomed to the maximum length of 200mm, the aperture (opening for light) would go down. The widest opening was f/5.6 but that was ok…the day was bright and sunny. 

The light going into the camera would determine how fast a shutter could be used. My concern was having enough light to get a fast shutter speed to stop the flight of the hawk.  All was just about perfect as anyone could hope for, except for having the wrong lens on the camera.  I cannot complain at all; with nature you take what good she offers and do not complain about it.  All in all, the settings were mostly like this: ISO 400, f/5.6, shutter 1/3200 of a second. The camera controlled the shutter speed and that was plenty fast enough.  The primary concern once I knew the light was sufficient was how would the bird look on the photos? Generally, a bright sky is going to dominate everything and the hawk would be a silhouette (thank you, spell check).   The answer is to set the camera to “spot metering”.  All cameras do not have this setting  but it will often make the difference in getting a photo or not. Set to spot metering, the camera sets its exposure based on the light where the camera is focused.  I focused on the hawk and it came out with the sky also ok. Lighting was very even that day and  exposure might have been acceptable with normal settings but why take a chance with a rare opportunity. 

   

Getting some fairly decent photos is the blessing. Had there been no camera, the sight of seeing that bird fly so gracefully and determined was an opportunity to peek at nature in action. That the hawk stayed long over the field and close enough to watch it search for food was quite unusual and very appreciated.

SET UP FOR SINGLE PRIMARY LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY USING A FLASHLIGHT

THE POST ON JANUARY 9, 2012 showed photos taken with a  single primary light source.  The post today shows the set up, a quick and hasty way to shoot simple objects and give your creative  lighting talents a chance to shine.  The set up consists of these items:

• White matte window shade used as the infinity curve backdrop
• Camera
• Tripod
• Light Source- we used a Surefire™ tactical flashlight, a very bright hand torch
• Objects to Photograph

A tripod to hold the camera is recommended. Although exposure did not require a really slow shutter, the tripod ensured a steady shot and freed me to move around with the light source. My arms will not reach like Plastic Man and it was comical enough  bobbling around in the crowded space and not tripping on the tripod or the legs of the ironing board  used to support the backdrop. I maneuvered around with the flashlight and used the camera timer to click off the photo.

Typical exposures use ISO 400, F/2.8 to F/7, somewhere around 1/40 sec to 1/60 sec shutter.  I recommend manual focus and manual exposure, fiddling with exposure to get the look you want.

A PERMANENT PHOTO SET UP: The best way to use the window shade backdrop is on a permanent photo table.  The shade should be mounted a foot or so up at the back of the table then pulled out along the table when needed. Add various arrangements of light tents, diffusers and multiple lighting methods to do macro and product photography.  The key is in the set up of the item and lighting. Take time with that.

 

A window shade makes an easy infinity curve backdrop for photography of small items.

This is the basic set up. An older camera fills in as model.

The room was darkened for photos taken with the single primary light.

The single source light and items to photograph

Play with lighting and discover the effect you want.

The set up for this photo of a Wacom™ graphics pen and mouse is seen in the first photo. Lighting was the Surefire™ hand-torch with a tad of ambient light leaking in from a hallway.