How does everyone get such good photos of there bunnies?

Hi!

I got a new camera for my christmas and have been using Daisy to practice on but she always moves just before i take the shot! How does everyone get such good photos of there bunnies? I absolutely love looking at all the photos of the buns on here.

Here is a couple of my best ones so far






P.s Daisy always has a weepy eye, the vet has seen it and treated it several times but its quite bad at the moment.

laura

No. 1 - thank the Lord for digital cameras! No. 2 - patience, and lots of it. I usually end up spending hours in the garden and take hundreds and hundreds of shots. There may only be two or three good ones in amongst those hundreds. If I whip the camera out because the bunnies are lying in a big heap and looking very photogenic, then I guarantee they'll move just as I get the camera set up. If they're doing anything interesting, they'll stop just as I get the camera out!!! So time and patience is the key. Make sure you've plenty of spare batteries to hand for the camera too!

Patience and a £1000 camera at the moment :lol:

I wouldn't say I get great photos (black bunnies are so hard!) but I do ok. I'd say patience is definitely number one and second would probably be to make sure you've got plenty of natural light.
Remember when someone posts a really lovely photo on here it's probably just one that was great out of lots of not so good ones, so take lots and lots!

Are you using a compact or an SLR?

Its harder indoors because you have the added difficulty of low light levels this time of year In summer it's a bit easier. I use an external flash pointed at the ceiling to get a better, softer light.

ok looks like i'll have to keep annoying Daisy with my camera flash all day! Do rabbits mind having a camera flash at them?

Laura10101 said:

ok looks like i'll have to keep annoying Daisy with my camera flash all day! Do rabbits mind having a camera flash at them?

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I'm not sure. I try not too flash at them as I know how it makes my eyes personally feel and I hate the whole dots in front of your eyes feeling.

Because I bounce it off the ceiling it doesn't really bother them too much.

It's all about luck and timing :lol: And a whole lot of patience.

I can't justify a separate flash at the moment so I've just got a little plastic diffuser thing (a few quid of ebay and slots in to the hotshoe) that I stuff with toilet roll.
It does require some additional tampering with shutter speed etc and white balance, but it makes for much nicer light than a bare inbuilt flash and it means the animals barely notice - they seem more affected by the focusing beam.

In the short term, you can try wrapping some tissue around the flash and fixing it there with a hairband. Means popping the flash up and down is a pain but you should get nicer photos

i just dont give bella a choice, i have stalked her with my camera since she was a baby so she's used to it now :lol: though i did catch her yesterday giving my camera a good chew :roll: think that was a hint maybe??

i use the flash, as both my guys are indoor buns and they dont seem to mind too much, i dont take pics close. i usually take a photo and then zoom in and crop it with my camera settings and 'hey presto'

though not too sure any of mine are that good

I tried toilet paper round my built in flash but I found it never diffused the light. It just tempered it's strength which just meant I had to use higher ISO or slower shutter speed or whatever, the thing I was trying to avoid. But maybe I didn't do it right.

Elena said:

I tried toilet paper round my built in flash but I found it never diffused the light. It just tempered it's strength which just meant I had to use higher ISO or slower shutter speed or whatever, the thing I was trying to avoid. But maybe I didn't do it right.

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You're right, it definitely does affect the strength. You'd never have the control and capabilities that you do with a separate flash so I suspect you'd always have to compromise on something.
I'm probably just confused with what diffusing is and using the wrong words (bit embarassing since I work in a camera shop ) because I don't think you can really do it "wrong" so some photos might help.

These two are with toilet roll



There aren't any harsh shadows; partly because the light isn't coming from one harsh direction, and I expect (as you said) partly due to the lower power.
The settings for the first one was 1/160, 200ISO and 3.2, the second was 1/200, 100ISO and 3.2

With no toilet roll

that was 1/60 200ISO and 5.
Because the light is very harsh and direct it's ended up with really bad shadows and generally unpleasant light.
To be fair, the first two also had the camera set to +5 exposure, which I didn't know about when I took this last one.

I don't know if it's officially "diffusing", but it certainly seems to help with the harsh shadows you tend to get with flash - at least with close up stuff. I've tried using torches/lamps to provide the light but it's never bright enough so I think despite using quite a bit of toilet roll the flash must still be packing quite a punch.

Another option if this doesn't really work for you OP, is to hold something reflective at an angle in front of your flash to bounce it on to the ceiling. I think they sell things to fit on top of the flaash that do that too as a cheap (couple of quid) alternative to a dedicated flash.