deerez

I take photos for a local humane society of the dogs and cats. I have been using my 50 mm lens, the room is pretty small and one room I use is darker than the other. Anyway, I notice the body is always blurred in the photos, I have to be pretty close to them to get their photo and them not to move. I wonder if my 35mm would be better? I have a 100 mm macro lens 2.8, but I am not sure it would work in such a small room.
The faces come out great, but the body is blurred. Maybe its because I am too close, which I cant really fix

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

Your depth of field is too shallow to get both the head and the tail in focus. A smaller aperture would help. Are you using flash? That would help, too.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Try f/4.0 or 5.6 for more depth of field. Kick up the ISO if necessary if the meter complains. Try a flash. If an attachable flash try a diffuser or point the flash to 45%.

Basically you need more depth of field and need to stop down the aperture.

deerez

Thanks for the tips:)

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

You've been hogged! :lol: :lol:

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Michael66 Loc: Queens, New York

My dog hates the flash. Maybe use a diffuser? At least I plan to get one and try it.

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

Hi Deerez. I do the same thing at our shelters (3) :) Do they have helpers at the shelter? And can they take te dogs outside on good days? The helpers at our shelters will take them for walks for me. Works great for the dog and me.:) If not you might have to get a flash to do it right. You can try the one on the camera. Put a white piece of clothh over it to cut the glare. It will act like a defuser.
Erv

deerez

Hi irv. Unfortunately I have no helpers. The lady thinks its easier with one person in the room:(. But there are dog walkers so many have been walked or just had surgery that day. I did finally convice her to let me use a flash that pops up to bounce. I will try it next time and see if it helps.

Thanks!

ArcticPug Loc: Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Maybe you should try taking the dogs outside for their images.... just be careful if you do use flash, I found a lot of dogs are scared by it!

deerez

I mentioned outdoors when it warms up and got no answer:(

olcoach Loc: Oregon

deerez, what you are doing is obviously causing you concern but it is still a very nice thing you're doing.

ArcticPug Loc: Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Sorry- did not read through all the comments posted before mine.
Outdoors and with a shallow DOF is perfect for shelter dogs though... that is, if they are comfortable with going outside. :)

Good luck!

katbandit Loc: new york city

i take photos at the local shelters also..i do mostly cats..indoors.. i use a flash almost always..but never direct..i bounce the light off the ceiling with my white card out to reflect just enough of a catch light in the eyes..sometimes i use a white foam board and bounce light off that by turning my flash toward it ..
unless a dog is very well trained they are much more difficult to photograph..you would need to take them outdoors and still use your flash for a fill light but mostly in order to stop the motion..dogs are very active once they are out..besides its nice to see them playful outdoors and not stuck in a cage behind bars..
i use a zoom lens 28-75mm ..this way i am able to focus from wherever i am..get close ups or further back from the animal depending on their size..
with my 50mm i found that i needed to open the aperture without the flash ..of course the focus point would be much clearer than the rest because it doesn't give you enough depth of field with it so open..the sharper an image would be you would need to use an f8 stop or higher ..when you pump up the iso you will get more noise..
i can send you some samples of ideas you can use for your work at the shelters but not sure if I'm allowed to post some on your thread…what you are doing is so rewarding .it is a tremendous help to the animals because a good shot of them on the site will bring people in to look and hopefully take them a forever home..

Old Redeye Loc: San Mateo, CA

If you have an external flash, point it to the ceiling or a wall. That eliminates the light in the dog's face and gives much better, soft lighting.
Earlier comments were right about the aperture and depth of field. Use at least f5.6