Anya bought me a Rogue FlashBender for Christmas, and I finally got around to trying it out the other day. In this case, the photography started with trying to capture a shot of the dogs chasing the laser pointer, but after several attempts, I decided it was something to table for later.

After running around, the dogs were laying around, and I decided to see what kinds of shots I could get of them. They continued to fidget, but I did get a couple keepers.

I used the FlashBender to act as a reflector to spread the light from the flash and soften it as well. This produced a nice even lighting over the whole portrait, while still producing a bit of a catch-light in Luca's eyes.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, 1/100 sec at f/2.8. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in auto mode. ISO 100. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

Such a cute pup!

- Bill

So I keep trying to find the motivation to get back on track here. Well, tonight after work, I took our dogs out to South Park's off-lease dog area. I'll spare you the claims that our dogs are the cutest dogs out there (mainly because everyone usually thinks their dogs are the cutest). But I will say that both of our dogs are rescue dogs. I strongly advocate adopting rescue dogs, and also advocate for mutts (as I'm not usually a big fan of all the pure-bred dogs people spend thousands of dollars on).

So anyway, tonight I guess our doggies can be my motivation.

I usually am not too pleased with the photographic qualities of the shots I take of our dogs. But I keep trying. One of these days I'll get it right. But I guess the important part is to keep trying.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, 1/32 sec at f/1.8, ISO Auto. No Post Production.

Why This Photo: I had just received my new 50mm f/1.8 lens (a great budget lens for $99!) and wanted to play around with it. I was sitting on the floor with the dogs, and figured I'd try for that elusive good pet photograph.

What Works: The soft background is about the only good thing about this photo. That is a product of that large f/1.8 aperture.

What Doesn't Work: Just about everything else. Focus is a little soft. There is a bad yellowish tinge to the photo. There is a convergence of the dogs' heads. And there are some distracting elements in the top right corner of the photo.

So yeah - not the greatest photo ever. But it is a learning tool. I definitely think unless you're incredibly lucky, you'll take plenty of bad photos before you take a majority of good photos.

The key is to remember to stick with it and learn from your mistakes. Which is what I try to do by keeping those less than stellar photos around, and revisiting them from time to time.

Drop me a line and let me know what you think.

- Bill