Pet Photography

Which would be your choice of a lens to use taking portraits of animals and pets to try and bring as much detail out as possible. A freind of mine uses Nikon gear and took a head shot of a dog at a show and it was pin sharp the detail in the eyes and coat were amazing and I would hope to be able acheive similar results with the right lens.

I use the DA* 16-50mm when in a small studio or at someone's home. I also try to use the DA* 50-135 if I have room. The standard and much cheaper 50mm f1.4 (or f1.7) is also a spectacular lens.

You can see some examples here. The photos there are a mix of those three lenses.

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/thumbpage.aspx?e=3872700

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/thumbpage.aspx?e=3948392
If you're asked for a password, use 'foha'.

Just note some rules, please...
1. Yes! I do in fact torture my rottweilers mercilessly with funny clothing. Do not report me, plenty of people have already done so.
2. Don't critique the web site. I'm just checking it out, as it has some nice feature for free. (I'm not using it as a professional front in any sense)

It all depends on a few issues.

- Distance from the subject
- Outdoor vs Indoor shots
- Lighting conditions if indoor
- Type of animal (big/small/very small!!!)(Fast/Slow/Turtle)
- Time to focus on the animal
- Budget
- Photographic Knowledge
- Equipment in use

I believe you have just won the award for "most general question asked in Pentax Forums.co.uk" - You have actually just beaten Duroo72 in what was the previous 'highly rated question' in this very same category!

I will be happy to advise (if i can) once you've given us a bit more details!

Regards,

Nathan

Hmmm, never mind those links. I thought the photos opened up to larger sizes. They are much too small to note any real detail or lack of it.
Anyway, I still suggest the DA* 16-50, DA* 50-135 and the 50mm 1.4 or 1.7.

But Nathan has good point. A lot depends on what you're shooting and what you want as a result. Those lenses are certainly not required to obtain good quality images. Although, I do prefer the DA* with dust/weather sealing if I'm in a farm type area with lots of dust. But a nice prime lens will also handle that better than a normal zoom sucking in dust.

Mainly out doors with dogs and Im able to take my time and move position easly.

amoringello
I have a 1.7 manual focus and to be honest not realy tried it around the dog show scene as yet.

[IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/philstaff/BEVENB1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/philstaff/crop2-1.jpg[/IMG]


Taken with a Tamron 70/300 on a pentax k100 D

Off topic - Anthony, all I can say it your photos confirm what softies Rotties are in the right hands! I can't see my two dogs putting up with such treatment
I do like number 9 though!

Softies? They sure are! Sadly, they are a very mis-understood and wrongly demonized breed.

Is Number 9 the one with the white background? It is one of my favorites. A better example is here:
http://www.ephotozine.com/photo/810699/large
It looks great on the wall at 20".

That's the one - I love it!

I've been doing a fair bit of pet photography over the last couple of months and bought the 70mm Ltd to help with it. The 70mm has good handling and is lightweight - particularly good when you're rolling round on the ground trying to get on the same level of the smaller dogs.

This is a recent pic of my sister's dog, taken a few weeks ago using the 70mm.

[IMG]http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee195/uncle_nobby/Scorch_01-1.jpg[/IMG]

Adrian

[IMG]http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn348/missmarple22/Frankie.jpg[/IMG]

My nephews new pup with an 18-55 kit lens.
I hope this works,I have never put a picture up before.

Interesting pics etc.

Having done some wildlife photography, e.g. tigers on safari in India and other animals I have 2 suggestions,

If its action shots etc, then depth of field and 50 to 100mm is a good bet and fast.

If its face/head shot for expressions, mood, smile, chill or anything else the subject has to be showing then 200 to 400 is a good bet, and try to keep to 2.8 to F4, though having said that I do have some good long range shots at F7.

Peter

It is mainly to pick the detail in the eye and coat Peter my Tamron does a fare jod but as mentioned my freind has a Nikon D2oo and took some photos with it at a dog show and it was pin sharp in coat detail which I liked. I think the lens he used was a 60mm 1.8 Nikon prime I will try and get a copy and post later.Once again guys thanks for the info this forum I find very helpful.

[IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/philstaff/headnatts.jpg[/IMG]
This is a head shot with the Nikon 1.8

[IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/philstaff/headtiger.jpg[/IMG]
Head shot with my Tamron both have been cropped from the origanal photo of the dogs.