Binkies - jumps of joy

A binky is easy to recognize. When bunnies are happy and confident, they like to binky. A binky is a funny and huge jump. They like to jump high and shake in the air. Some might think that they are ill and something is bothering them, but it is just their way to express how happy they are.

Since a binky is very quick and sudden movement, it is hard to get a proper photo of it. I am still struggling to get a good binky shot, but I have some adivse of how to get a good shot of a binky.

↪ Use a camera. You will get a better shot if you take the photo with a camera instead of your phone. Not only does the photos come out in a better quality, but you can adjust the settings.

↪ Adjust aperture and shutter speed. To freeze movement you need to use a high shutter speed. On all of the photos below I used 1/1000 shutter speed. A higher aperture will also make it easier to avoid a blurry photo. The lower the aperture is, the more blurry will the background be. Higher aperture will make more details in the photo. I used a very low aperture on the photos below, which is why many of them turned out blurry. A higher aperture would make them more clear.

↪ Use the multiple photos function. When your camera takes several photos in a row, the chances of a good binky shot are higher.

The model in these pictures is named Muffin. ;)

Wooden backdrop!

I like to experiment with different backdrops when I take photos of Muffin & Johan, and I thought I could share this one with you.

It is very simple to set it up. I bought wrapping paper from a hobby shop that is called "Panduro", even though you can get wrapping paper from a book store too, and I cut out pieces big enough to cover my desk and the wall. I taped the edges of the paper to my desk, where I have my set up, and I was done!

Make sure you get it tight, and try to avoid to get air under the wrapping paper. It can end up a little bit "bulky" like it did with me at some spots.

How to get a good tounge-shot

Getting a shot of your bunny when they are peaking their tounge out is not easy. So here are some tips from own excperience to help you so you can get a great photo of your pet while they are peaking their tounge out.

 ➼ Use a camera. You will get a better shot if you take the photo with a camera instead of your phone. Not only does the photos come out in a better quality, but you can adjust the settings. When you photograph fast movement, you will need a high shutter speed to freeze what you are photographing. In this case, the tounge. The higher the shutter speed is, the better you see the details of what you are photographing. It could be a good idea to use a higher ISO, because the higher your shutter speed is, the darker gets the photo. Of course the ISO should not be too high either, because that would make the photo look "corny", so you should take the photo early in the day, so you get good natural lightening.

  ➼ Study the animal's beahviour, so you can predict when they will peek their tounge out. I for example know that Muffin & Johan always peak their tounges out when they are finished cleaning themselves.

 ➼ Take a lot of photos. The chances are small you will get a good shot if you only take one photo. So when you got them in focus, just hold in the photo button and take lots and lots of photos. That way, you are more guaranted to get a good shot, even several good photos, and you can pick the ones that turned out best.

 ➼ Stay ready with the camera when they are eating. A lot of animals lick their lips when they are done eating, a great opportunity to get a good shot. When I want to get a good tounge-shot of Muffin & Johan, I often give them some banana, because they always lick their lips a lot when they are finished eating. (If you want to give your bunny banana too, just remember that they can not have too much since it contains a lot of sugar. A few bites or some small pieces is enough.) Also if you have a bunny, you can also try to take a photo when they are drinking, they always lick their mouths a lot when they are finished drinking.

A video of Muffin & Johan eating banana. You can see how they peak their tounges out when they are finished eating.

Muffin after eating banana.

New lens!

Jeg har kjøpt en ny linse til kameraet som jeg er veldig fornøyd med! Det har veldig stor blenderåpningen som gjør at det blir veldig fin bokeh/blurry bakgrunn når jeg tar bilder. Prisen var også ganske rimelig med tanke på at det er en veldig god linse. Linsen er en portrettlinse, men jeg tror man kan ta fine landskapsbilder med den også. Kameraet jeg bruker er Olympus OM-D E-M10, linsen jeg kjøpte er m.zuiko 45mm f1.8. Bildene nedenfor er de første jeg har tatt, og jeg tok de i dag. Så jeg lærer meg fremdeles å bruke linsen.

I bought a new lens for my camera that I am very happy with! It has a really big aperture which makes a very pretty blurry/bokeh background. The price was alright for such a great lens. It is a portrait lens, but I think you can capture pretty nice lanscapephotos with it too. The camera I use is Olympus OM-D E-M10, and the lens I bought is m.zuiko 45mm f1.8. These photos are the first I took, and I took them today. So I am still learning to use the lens.

Photoshoot

Når jeg tar bilder av kaninene pleier de å hoppe mye rundt. Jeg pleier å strø litt pellets rundt når jeg skal ta bilder av de, det er da jeg får tatt de beste bildene. Så det første jeg gjør er å gi de pellets. Da sitter de stille og spiser mens jeg tar bilder. Når de er ferdig med å spise venter jeg litt. Da hopper de først litt rundt, så pleier de å stå stille litt, og så vasker de seg. Så gir jeg de pellets igjen. Men noen ganger etter å ha vasket seg, legger Muffin seg ned isteden.

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Muffin&Johan usually jump around when I take photos of them. So I give them some pellets, the photos turns out best that way. So they sit there eating while I take pictures. Then I wait for a little while, until they have finished eating. They start jumping around, and cleaning themselves. After that I give them some more pellets. Sometimes, after cleaning themselves, Muffin decides to flop instead.

Redigering

Jeg syntes det er ganske gøy å "leke" med redigeringsprogrammer. De jeg bruker mest er Pixelmator og Superimpose. Med Pixelmator kan du bruke fargepensler til å gjøre bilder lysere, mørkere, lage sterkere eller svakere farger, gjøre bildene skarpere eller mykere og mye mer. Med superimpse kan man fjerne bakgrunnen og sette inn en ny. Bildene ser ikke alltid så "ekte" ut da, men det er likevel gøy å bruke.

Her brukte jeg Pixelmator for å gjøre bildet lysere og Superimpose for å fjerne bakgrunnen og sette inn en annen.