P#15: A Beautiful German Shepherd Picture
Jenni Bidner explains how these two seemingly different dogs in each German Shepherd picture are actually one in the same
How can one German Shepherd picture look so different from another -- if it's the very same dog? Jenni Bidner explains as she discusses these before and after shots.
Breaking the Rules
Jenni Bidner: When you asked me to provide eight photos, I thought, "Well, I could give you my greatest photos that are my all-time best seller beautiful shots, or (since teaching is really what I love to do the best), I'll give you some before and afters, similar to what I was just talking about."
What I want you to shoot is the bad shots followed by the good shots. Or in some cases, shots that aren't bad and one's that aren't good, but they have a creative, technical change that you can make just by altering your shooting techniques.
The first image I have is a German Shepherd picture. If you're looking at the before and after, you might not believe it is the same dog. (click the image for a larger version)
The first photo was taken with a wide angle lens standing above him and shooting down. He looks like the cartoon dog, huge nose, tiny ears, tiny little feet. Same day, step back, put on a 200mm or a 300mm lens, got down to his eye level, and he's suddenly this big, bold search dog.
It is the same dog! Neither is wrong; neither is right. But it's obviously a huge creative difference. That too wide, too high, and too close rule can be broken effectively, but do it for a reason.
Audri Lanford: The difference is absolutely amazing. It is hard to believe that it is the same dog. You've also got such a nice blur in the after picture, whereas you can see pretty much every blade of grass in the before.
Jenni Bidner: Exactly. That's partly aperture and partly distance, because your depth of field changes when your perspective changes.
The telephoto was shot at very wide aperture. In this case, it was f2.8 and it blurs the background. The wide angle tends to have deeper depth of field and every blade of grass and every little piece of snow is in there.
In Closing
Comparing the German Shepherd picture using the before and afters clearly illustrates Jenni Bidner's too wide, too high, and too close rule. It's striking how different they are from each other.
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