Taking pictures of your chins?

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rawrrr

rawrrr

Active member
Joined
Jul 15, 2012
Messages
31
I've noticed that some of you here have some beautiful chin pictures! My boys, unfortunately, are a little camera shy and won't sit still long enough to get a decent picture... and if I go for one in the cage with the door open, they'll try to escape. As a result, all my pics are through-the-cage-bars, usually of fuzzy butts running away from the camera.

Any tips on how to get some good pictures? Or are some chins just more into being photographed than others?
 
My dad is an amateur photographer, and at one point said it takes 500 shots to get a good picture. The best photos I have gotten have been out of the cage with the chins under proper lighting. For every good shot I get, I have at least 20 that stink. Most of mine are okay, but not the best.

I love photoshop as well.
 
I'm lucky that my girls stay put when I open the cage door. (Most of the time, anyway.) Of course, one is more willing to let me take pics than the other, but I can't help that. As for taking pictures, generally speaking, everything takes practice. Just shoot away and you're bound to get something.
 
Renee's father is right, I am a portrait photographer, but I am a chin mom to my little standard grey Shiloh. It takes many shots to get one good one. Since chinchillas are so quick, even with a good camera you'll get their little blurry fuzzy butt photos. You just have to get lucky with the photo if you have chins that won't sit still.
CelesteLeggett
CelesteLeggett
These pictures are my husband and Shiloh. Not good quality but I still wanna show her off a little ;3
 
Some are just natural hams and will pose no problem, even when they look silly.





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Do you think they'll get any easier to photograph with age, when they calm down a little? They're both fairly young, and Crouton especially (6-7 months old) is full of energy all the time.
 
rawrrr said:
Do you think they'll get any easier to photograph with age, when they calm down a little? They're both fairly young, and Crouton especially (6-7 months old) is full of energy all the time.
Click to expand...

The ones I take pix of are all older, 8-11 years old, the older they are and if they are tame the easier it is.
 
I take all my photos on sunny afternoons, no later than 2-3pm, with the chins in their cages. While Abby hates the camera, Chia loves she attention she gets from being photographed. I always say things like "you're so pretty" or "how'd you get so pretty?!" while I take pics, and I think she just eats up all the attention, and has gotten used to not moving around very much. Maybe I react differently or say things in a different tone when she stays still, and I've inadvertently trained her. I don't know, but she's a real sport for photos!

Abby is not. She hates it, she runs away, tries to escape, and just doesn't really cooperate. Abby is 8 months old, and Chia is 14 months. At least for me, they're both fairly young, so I don't think age has much to do with it in my case!

I also have a DSLR, and I choose my lighting and ISO/shutter speed settings carefully, which helps!

(PS: you can see my photos on my blog in my signature! ;) )
 
Oh, Dawn, it's been way too long since we saw the famous Cross-Dressing Chins!!!

Thanks for the smile!!! :thumbsup:

How about a reprint of one of my favorites, Franco as a leprechaun for the newbies???
 
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I just spent a good hour trying to get a picture of amp, I think i got maybe 5 all in all. I ended up trashing about 60 of just her tail as she bolted. The good ones i got were mostly pure luck. I suppose it didn't help that it was playtime, and shes nearly unstoppable during playtime. The best i could do after putting her home was this, in the 10 seconds i had between "door open" and "chinchilla gone"
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Decided to try some playtime photography and got at least a couple decent pictures! It helps that we've been doing bathroom playtime so the area is nice and small (and there's no hiding from the camera!)

(Note: The big yellow plastic ball in some pics came with Crouton when we got him off CL, but we only use it to carry the chins to and from the bathroom for playtime. They know hopping in from the cage means playtime, and hopping back in from the bathroom means they're going back to the cage).


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Sniffles is not liking the camera. Death glare!

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Crouton hopping into the dust bath!

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Chillin on my knee!

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STREEEEEETCH! My favorite picture from last night!
 
I have a Canon DSLR camera, which is fast at taking photos so that helps since chins are quick little buggers! We used to try to take pictures with our phones and digital point and shoot camera, but they weren't fast enough. So we decided to invest in a DSLR. It was a great choice. We have taken many nice pictures with it.
 
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