Smile!

[fanatic4yorkies]

I take photos for our humane society and wanted to share this photo to hopefully brighten your day!

[Wylie's Mom]

Omg - what a truly AWESOME photo, wow!! What camera / lens / settings did you use...? Are you a photog for a living?

[fanatic4yorkies]

You are being too kind in asking if I do photography for a living - I'm retired but if I did, I would be very poor!).

I use a Canon TI5I camera with a 50 mm f/1.8 II lens on aperture priority (setting usually of 1.8) with no flash. The cat and small animal photos are taken in a friendship room that has fluorescent lighting, so I usually take around 50 photos per animal and hope for three good ones! The dog photos are taken outside with the automatic setting. It is SO rewarding (and fun!) taking the animals' photos and knowing it is helping to get them adopted into furever homes.

Do you have any tips on taking photos in fluorescent lighting? I could use any and all help!

[Silver Lace]

That was a real sweet photo of the kitty. Thank you for sharing. I like kitties but can't have one but I like looking at them. It did brighten my day!

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by fanatic4yorkies

You are being too kind in asking if I do photography for a living - I'm retired but if I did, I would be very poor!).

I use a Canon TI5I camera with a 50 mm f/1.8 II lens on aperture priority (setting usually of 1.8) with no flash. The cat and small animal photos are taken in a friendship room that has fluorescent lighting, so I usually take around 50 photos per animal and hope for three good ones! The dog photos are taken outside with the automatic setting. It is SO rewarding (and fun!) taking the animals' photos and knowing it is helping to get them adopted into furever homes.

Do you have any tips on taking photos in fluorescent lighting? I could use any and all help!

You could adjust your camera's White Balance setting and/or use a filter for it...

[fanatic4yorkies]

Wylie's Mom - thank you for your suggestions! I have tried the white balance set to fluorescent but I still have a problem with flicker where part of the photo is yellow. I take three consecutive photos, and usually one of them does not have the flicker problem, but sometimes I still miss a good shot because animals can move so fast. You mentioned using a filter - what type do you suggest (I presently am using a UV filter)? Thanks again!

And thank you Silver Lace - glad the photo brightened your day!

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by fanatic4yorkies

Wylie's Mom - thank you for your suggestions! I have tried the white balance set to fluorescent but I still have a problem with flicker where part of the photo is yellow. I take three consecutive photos, and usually one of them does not have the flicker problem, but sometimes I still miss a good shot because animals can move so fast. You mentioned using a filter - what type do you suggest (I presently am using a UV filter)? Thanks again!

And thank you Silver Lace - glad the photo brightened your day!

Seriously, I'm still just in awe of that pic! I think animals are the HARDEST to get good, clear pics of bc, yup, they move like crazy. Plus, they get that suspicious look in their eyes whenever a camera is pointed their way, I swear lol .

For a filter, I was thinking of something like this , but in the correct lens size for whatever you're using. It may mitigate some of the tones you're seeing.

[lisaly]

That photo is amazing! I love it! This is expensive, but I've heard an Expodisc works great to set white balance. All you need to do is hold a larger one in front of the lens and set the white balance once. Buying one for each lens would be prohibitive. You could also use a good gray card, like WhiBal.

ExpoDisc 2.0 - Professional White Balance Filter - ExpoImaging, Inc.
https://luminous-landscape.com/whibal-review/

[fanatic4yorkies]

Thank you, Lisaly, for your suggestions!

Attached are two unretouched photos taken consecutively - one good and one with the flicker affecting the quality. I think the problem is with the frequency of the light flicker - I read fluorescent light changes frequency faster than our eyes can see it, but the camera picks it up.

[lisaly]

Originally Posted by fanatic4yorkies

Thank you, Lisaly, for your suggestions!

Attached are two unretouched photos taken consecutively - one good and one with the flicker affecting the quality. I think the problem is with the frequency of the light flicker - I read fluorescent light changes frequency faster than our eyes can see it, but the camera picks it up.

Thank you for helping these babies. I love the wide open aperture. I use a Nikon 50 1.4g, but I usually use it on 2.2 to make sure both eyes are focused. I'm going to try wider open aperture. I often use it for creative work when I'm not as concerned with both eyes being fully focused, but I love them both being in focus because the eyes see into the animal's soul, at least for me.

With such changing light conditions almost instantaneously, white or grey cards or Expodiscs wouldn't work. If there's any way to move these babies closer to natural light coming into the room, I would try that.

Your photos are really wonderful.

[fanatic4yorkies]

Thank you, Lisaly! I also believe seeing into their eyes is seeing into their souls which also helps to form a bond with potential adopters.

Unfortunately the friendship room only has a window in the door which leads out into another room. I bought the Canon 1.8 lens because of the difference in cost - the 1.4 is a much better lens but also $$$$$. I have tried using different apertures, but with the poor lighting conditions, I usually use 1.8. Do you think the 1.4 lens used with a 1.4 aperture would make a big difference?

[Wylie's Mom]

Here is a less expensive, but similar, option to the expo disc: Amazon

[fanatic4yorkies]

Thank you, Wylie's Mom - I will definitely look into that!