Linda K

such a tragedy for all, RIP little ones

how awful, poor puppies RIP little ones

awesome work there Pepe

breeding sucks sometimes, RIP little one romp free

very enterprising - mine draw me pictures, and then offer them back to me for sale.

love the look of the site, nice and clean, and easy to follow - good job

what a great idea, and love the idea too to put the kids in there

public liability and gear insurance definitely, but again needed as a business person

she might but no reason to photograph her with angles like that to make it even more obvious, unless that was what you were intending, and how the owner wants to see her. I note from another post that you were thinking about wanting to charge people for doing shots, and when you do, you need to capture their animals in a way that they are happy to look back and see them, and not just a snapshot type pose that they could do themselves. Bet you would be surprised how different she might look if you changed up the angles you were using to shoot her, like getting down to her level and shooting eye to eye, or shooting totally from above, and not chopping the body in half - for limb chops, as with people, you want it to be intentional, not just because you ran out of space - you will see with the 1st shot, with a higher chop, it is a lot more flattering - would either crop tighter or include the whole body, 2/3 crops like these don't look as pleasing, kind of like a shot of a person with half an arm - it should either all be there or not, not looking like it has been cut off through accident. Would also watch the hands on the body (guessing it is a hand in the left of one of the shots on her back), as that is also distracting. I do like the exposure on these, and you have great focus on the eyes, and some nice light in there, which is half the battle over the "dead" eye black pools or awful redeye or pinhole catchlights from a flash that one sees sometimes, so lots to like about these, just some other stuff to think about and work on if you choose. Just my 2c worth

yep, shows up those who have clearly no idea how to truly operate a camera, but rely on the camera to make all their choices, and how they have no idea what settings they would ever need to do to achieve the same thing in the future. The "this camera takes a really good photo" is like telling an artist that their paint brush makes a really good painting. Sigh

so sorry to hear this Ruth, thinking of you at this time

some nice poses there, but with the "Bug" would watch your angles and crops - the last shots make the body look a bit of a strange shape, esp no 2, and the background there is a bit distracting.

One of the main reasons why so many photographers go into business and then 5 years down the track have suffered the 95% failure rate, is that so many rush into it based on family an friends who all say "you are so good, you should be charging for this", and they do, before being properly ready for it, and discover the reality the hard way As Helen has said, there is an awful lot to consider before just taking shots, and you only risk devaluing yourself if you charge peanuts for all that work, not to mention attracting the wrong clients. Taking the photos is only a small part of the overall business, there is also the marketing and selling of yourself, having business policies in place to deal with any situation, as well as the costs of maintaining equipment and backups, processing software (and backups) - and if you are in business, you cannot use the student or free versions of the software, you need to have a full licenced copy, costs of insurance, computer and harddrives etc, as well as keeping all of that up to date. That can't be done on just $30 for a session, unless you are doing 5 sessions a day every day. To be in business, you really need to be so totally comfortable with taking shots, that under any conditions, you know you can consistently produce a full gallery of at least 30 killer shots for the client to choose from, and that you get good shots not just from a fluke, but you could reproduce said shot down the track. If you do not want to be in business, and just want to strictly do it as a hobby you like, then do yourself a favour and do not start going into peoples homes and photographing period - without the backup of insurance, it will not be long before something happens that you might regret (or accident to your gear - I know a friend who had a client knock over her camera and tripod, and bang went a 5D, 50mm 1.2 and a pocket wizard, many 1000 of gear damaged, but thankfully she was insured for it all, can only imagine how bad it would be to have all that damaged without insurance)

sorry why is it different then with dogs - they are a companion and friend too, just like horses are. Why draw the line with one companion and not another, esp since one could argue there are many more dogs than horses. don't understand how you can use the companion card with one and not the other, and if you are going that line, people have eaten dogs and cats in other countries too, as well as numerous other animal delicacies - that does not mean I am going to rush out and eat them, nor would I expect to see them being served up here either - we have the land not to have to economy farm and eat whatever is in reach unlike numerous countries overseas where land is scarce.

would not feed it to any animals I have nor eat it, as I have ridden loved and owned horses all my life. Can also add that when we have had to have the knacker come here to PTS a horse, it is done by bullet to the head here, and then the body is removed - they are not taken away to be killed, and it is done quickly (1 shot) - they cannot be killed by injection from a vet, as that then renders the meat unable to be used for any consumption, and the knackers will not then remove the body. The only other way they will take a body is if the animal has died of natural causes. I would never eat it either.

loving these examples - bec - love the 2nd lot you have, and love the bird shot, too cool, very abstract

good panning is an art and takes an awful lot of practice, would ideally like the cyclists in more sharpness with the background blurred, but not that bad I would discard

an extender will lose you 2 stops, so would be going the 2.8. When I went landscape photographing, would have a backpack with all the camera gear, and went with the 70-200, the 16-35, and the 100 macro. With these I had most things covered, and as Kristin said, would make do otherwise. Another thing if you do not already have it, esp if you want to get the tack sharp all the way through shots (which means shooting at least F16, and ideally ISO 100), is a tripod. If you are walking around, a good lightweight one is a must (I have a carbon fibre one that can support about 5kg), but is so light weight, along with a pistol grip tripod head. the downside is that these are not cheap, but I would not be shooting without the tripod - it is the must for low light / sunrise / sunset shots, and with the right backpack, it can attach to the side, so you aren't carrying the weight in your hands all the time.

in Victoria, FCCV insist on white curtains, GCCFV allow multi coloured curtains, so you can select a colour that really enhances the breed, and shows them off to their best. Waratah- as they recognise cat breeds and colours that are not recognised by either FCCV or GCCFV, not a huge no of breeders I know end to belong to Waratah, as it is not easy swapping cats from Waratah to either of the 2 VIC bodies, which a breeder would need to do to use the cats in their breeding program. Believe other state bodies in other states also have the same problems with Waratah.

it is pretty easy to clean the sensor too with the proper cleaning kit, and something you certainly van do yourself, no need to have to spend ages in photoshop removing stuff if it is kept clean in the first place

What Miranda said, basically the 2, CAV is yet to gain real recognition to show, in fact was voted against recognition I believe at the last FCCV meeting. A person can however only belong to one of the groups, either FCCV or GCCFV, cats can only be registered with one, not both, and they both generally hold their shows on the same day - there are only a couple of shows a year, such as the Nationals, where members of both groups can compete together. The FCCV is more formal, where it is closed judging shows, and cats must be benched with white curtains, GCCFV judging is open, so you can here what the judges like or dislike about a cat, and any colour is allowed for curtains, so they are generally selected to complement the cats colouring. Breeders that belong to either organisation have a code of ethics they need to adhere to in the breeding of their cats.

exactly, the ID are built with a lot better weather seals etc, and are built to have a longer acuattion life that the average consumer camera, as it is expected that they will be used a lot more

Overcast is the best!!!!! The sun is being covered with clouds, so acts like a great big softbox for you for lighting, which means that you aren't getting the big extremes in light and shade like on a bright sunny day, so you can shoot anywhere. Look for areas to help you bounce light - areas like sand, concrete, even grass and bark (although the grass may create a bit of a green colorcast), but these will help angle that light back into the faces. I love the bright overcast days best (not the dark overcast like a storm is apporcahing), as they are just awesome photographic days

sounds like a new body might be in order - hope you can get it sorted out, but maybe a good option if you are serious on the sports front on a pro level would be the 1D, which is made for that sort of thing, the 50D is still a consumer level body