Eye Level Views of Pets

[rpcrowe]

Quite often an eye level portrait of an animal will be the most successful as in this image of Jasper by Robin:

Jasper

There are two or three ways (please feel free to add more if you have some) to attain an eye level view:

1. Get your camera down to the eye level of the dog. Of course this is easiest if you have a large dog who is standing. Otherwise it can be difficult to get down to the level of a small dog (especially when you are as old as I am). An articulating LCD can help if your camera is so equipped. If you don't have an articulating LCD, a right angle finder such as this would help - these are available on eBay both used and new. They are for specific cameras so ensure that the finder you buy is for or can be converted to fit your camera...

Another way to get down (for us old folks is to have some sort of stool to sit on. I often use a folding cane stool like this..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FOLDING-PORT...sAAOSw0JpV5FpG
I have been also using this cane stool for events like auto sports and airshows

2. Get your dog up to the level you are comfortable with. This can be with the dog on a table or a chair. I had Carlie on a recliner chair with a fabric throw covering it. I was sitting on a roll-around office chair that way my camera was almost exactly at her eye level and I had the freedom to quickly adjust my shooting spot...


or it can be with the dog on a slope. The slope has advantages since, a slope with foliage such as ice plant makes a nice foreground and background for just about any color dog...


3. Finally (but this doesn't have to be final if someone else has additional ideas) shooting a dog from a long distance with a long focal length lens will narrow the angle between the dog and your lens and make it look like you are shooting from a lower angle that you are actually shooting. This was shot at 116mm on a 1.5x Canon DSLR (185mm equivalent)...

[NorthernFocus]

Great post, Richard. You pretty well covered the options. You didn't mention using knee pads to kneel down. I'm not yet of an age that precludes kneeling all together but I definitely regret it if I don't use knee pads. They can be had from any hardware store for relatively little cost. The type with hard plastic cover work best but they make some really cheap, light weight foam versions that are useful for travel which are so inexpensive that they can be considered disposable. The foam version can also be used like a bean bag in a pinch on car roof/window jam.

I've used the right angle viewfinder for shooting shorebirds on the beach. It definitely takes some practice.

All fine images BTW.

[rpcrowe]

Great post Dan... I neglected knee-pads since I can easily kneel down but, have a devil of a time getting on my feet after kneeling, unless there is something for me to brace on. It's hell growing old but sure beats the alternative. Every day I wake up on this side of the grass, I am grateful

Knee pads (for those who can still kneel and get up from that position) are also great additions when shooting sports from the sidelines...

It can be quite difficult to follow moving subjects looking down when using a right angle finder. The first "professional" camera that I owned and used was a Rolleiflex 6x6 mm twin lens reflex. I got used to looking down to frame and follow my image. I guess that skill is like bike riding, once you learn you never forget it...

Speaking about right angle viewfinders, I packed one for my trip to Europe a couple of years ago. I broke it out in Venice only to find (to my chagrin) that the eyepiece for a 40D (which I had previously used the eye level viewfinder on) did not fit the 7D cameras I brought with me to Europe

[Black Pearl]

The articulated screen on my Fuji has been a revelation and something I don't understand how I lived without - I spent years selling them as a great option to the public but this is the first camera I've owned that has one.

Richard you are right on the mark with your advice, get down to the dog (animals) level and your shots come alive being more intimate and connected. On my shot you've mentioned of Jasper he seems to be looking directly at you as a viewer because he was looking directly through the lens of my camera, something that wouldn't have happened if shot from a higher viewpoint.

[xpatUSA]

The articulated screen on my Fuji has been a revelation and something I don't understand how I lived without - I spent years selling them as a great option to the public but this is the first camera I've owned that has one.

+1 to that. I had a Panasonic G1 and then a GH1 but I sold the G1 in a fit of pique and gave the GH1 away, Leaving me with only Sigma DSLRs and we all know about their viewfinders and LCD's

Less than a year later, eBay has kindly sent me another G1 and kit lens, very cheap I might add, and I re-po'd the Leica 45mm Elmarit Macro from my son.

Coupled with their 10x manual focus-by-wire, that fully-articulating LCD is unbeatable.

[flashback]

Richard, one can go even lower, to get that regal look. Of course going lower and can also mean getting the dog higher (no, not that kind of higher).