I’ve been busy the last few weeks preparing my presentation for the Pet Photography class I’m teaching next week.  I’ve had fun going out and photographing dogs and cats for the specific purpose of showing examples to support class discussion.  One challenge that we’ll cover is photographing animals with black and/or white fur.  It’s so very important to pay attention to your histogram to avoid blown out highlights and too dark areas.  Different lighting situations cause the camera to react differently to the very white or very black fur.  I’ve already had to underexpose images of dogs with black fur because the camera lightened the image and the dog looked almost gray.  On the other hand, I’ve had to overexpose in other situations when the you couldn’t even find the dog’s eyes amidst the blob of black.  Each lighting situation is different.  The key is being able to think quickly, know your equipment, and adapt.  Above and below are a few images of an adorable toy breed – the Japanese Chin.  I love this tiny dog’s short nose and big big eyes!  The profile image below really shows that smudge of a nose!