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Furry Photography
Guest post by Gallen. Gallen has been a photographer for over a decade, and has been actively photographing fursuiters since 2009. He runs www.fursuitphotography.com.
Hi everyone! I was recently contacted by [adjective][species] to write about fursuit photography. Originally, a title of “How to do Fursuit Photography” was suggested. This rubbed me slightly wrong as I felt that photography, like any artform, has no one singular approach. Tastes in photography, and art, differ between each of us. So I want to stress that this article is simply about how I approach fursuit photography, not the be-all-end-all of fursuit photography.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about the little thing we actually need for photography, called a camera. You can choose anything from a compact camera built into a mobile phone, all the way to expensive interchangeable-lens cameras.
There are things to consider apart from the camera, depending on how serious you want to take your photography. For example: software to process the photos (I use Corel Aftershot Pro); a good solid 8 bit per channel IPS LCD monitor (commonly available lcd monitors only allow a limited range of colours to be seen); or a colorimeter to calibrate your screen.
If you are interested in printing your photography, consider calibrating your inks and papers. I personally went with profiled inks and paper, bypassing this (really expensive) step.
At this point, you may be thinking ‘hold on, I know this particular photographer that does brilliant work with just his camera’. And so do I. Some of my photographer friends deliver jpegs straight from their cameras that are simply brilliant. I can’t for the grace of the wolves above understand how they do that. Once again, photography is an artform, and there are many ways to do it. You may decide to just start with a camera and whatever software it comes with, then slowly move on, or spring for the whole shebang.
Now it’s time to take photos!
Photography has very strong technical roots. But the items mentioned above only allow us to accurately view and process the final image. When taking photos, there are other technical challenges to consider: exposure.
Exposure is the selection of ISO, shutter speed, and lens aperture. With today’s cameras, and their “automatic” modes, many photographers don’t bother learning about exposure. But if you understand their relationship, it will help you take sharp, well lit photographs in nearly any situation (if that is what you are after!).
Exposure is not a subject I wish to cover in this article. I can however, recommend a website that deals with this subject (Cambridge in Colour) as well as a book (Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson). Once you understand exposure, which is quite straightforward, I suggest exploring using artificial light, i.e. flash with your photography.
Flash photography is always thought of for use indoors, in the studio, or at night, but you’ll be surprised how useful flash can be when outdoors. Nearly all my photos are taken with flash. It is an acquired taste, and some photographers utterly dislike flash. And there are many, many wonderful photographs taken in natural light as well. So once again, it is up to you to decide depending on your own preferences.
Finally, there is the small matter of actually taking a photo: the composition of an image. This is perhaps the most important aspect, but I seem to have marginalized it by talking about equipment X, exposure Y, lack of nice looking wolf plushies, etc.
Photo composition is a subject I am less confident about, as I think my photographs feel very raw and unfinished (unlike photographers that I aspire to). But let me give it a go, in the context of a LondonFurs fursuit walk.
The LondonFurs organize a furmeet every 3 weeks that draws over a hundred furs to a large pub in central London. The fursuit walks are highly organized and are guided by a group of dedicated volunteers. These volunteers figure out the routes, and keep all the fursuiters and attending furs safe, guide them through crossings, as well as managing PR with the public and police.
Broadly speaking, I encounter two types of opportunities during such walks: posed shots, and candids. Posed shots are pretty obvious. Fursuiters love to pose, and with the magnificent backdrop of London, the possibilities are endless. The route we take is very familiar to me, so I sometimes suggest where the fursuiters should stand and pose. Some more experienced fursuiters already know how to pose along the route, which makes things much easier!
Candid photography is much, much harder, and very often the results I get are quite poor. However once in awhile a gem shines through. Candid photography (some might call it street photography, but I digress…) is my main focus nowadays, specifically on fursuiter/public interaction. It is challenging and rewarding to capture a slice of time depicting a fleeting smile, a momentary expression of joy.
I feel that my favourite candid shots are largely luck, combined with knowing how my equipment works, as well as good old practice. For example, I tend to shoot with both eyes open; my left eye gives me a broad overview of what’s going on, and my right eye, looking through the viewfinder, allows me to setup the autofocus as well as compose the shot.
It is difficult to explain in words. I tend to be “in the zone” when doing candid photography as it is highly difficult to individually think though everything: exposure compensation, flash compensation, ISO, flash sync speed, autofocus point, framing/composition, is there a bus behind me, etc. It boils down to practice, and a large aspect of my practice does not come from furmeets, but from shooting in zoos and wildlife parks.
In terms of actual composition, I only loosely follow the so-called “rule of thirds” (google it!). I’ve tried following it strictly and the resulting photos felt very static. (On the other hand, there are many other photographers following the rule and getting great results. This is another example of needing to find out what fits you, and not blindly following the pack.)
I also try my best to create the illusion of depth. This means having a photograph with a distinct subject, but with elements in front and behind. This really helps bring the viewer into the photo, but it is rare that things fall into place perfectly.
I also love to push for perspective. A lot of my shots tend to figure some exaggerated perspectives, simply because I shoot as close as possible to my subjects (another thing to google: “If your pictures are not good enough, you are not close enough”). This, combined with a rather wide angled lens (24mm equivalent) gives me the perspectives I enjoy. Note that perspective is a matter of distance between the camera and subject, not focal length! Wide focal lengths are required to capture such perspectives, but lenses have no play in perspective.
Another thing to think about is position. Keep moving! Shooting from various positions will introduce you to different viewpoints. They may be better, they may be worse, but the possibility is there to catch something different.
To keep things unique, there are some things I generally avoid. If there is a crowd of photographers shooting something, I don’t go there. I don’t see the point in capturing a shot that is slightly different from what a dozen other photographers are taking.
Next, nearly every photographer I see shoots with the camera to his or her eye. Why? Shoot from the waist, shoot from above, shoot tilted, shoot on your belly, shoot upwards while lying on your back. Crouch down to the height of a small child, to capture the view through their eyes, nearer to the ground. Climb up from above, see what things look like from a hundred feet above. Or stand on tiptoe and shoot one-handed with the camera raised high and tilting down.
Unique viewpoints will reward you with unique shots, even though you might look stupid while taking it (why is this idiot crawling on the ground?). This is especially true when shooting wildlife; you want to shoot at the eye level of critters for the most intimate shots, and thankfully fursuiters don’t go as low as hedgehogs.
Panoramics is another side of photography that I occasionally deploy. This comes from years of doing hand-held panoramic photography outdoors and indoors. I do not have a pano rig, so rely on knowing exactly (or so I believe :P) where the pivot point is for my lens, giving the least amount of parallax error. This has come in handy many times, when there are large groups of fursuiters, too wide for my lens at its widest setting.
I also study photographs from the masters, and other photographers whose work I enjoy. Why do some photos appeal to you? Why do some not?
Join photography forums (those dedicated to composition, not equipment forums) and follow along their weekly/monthly challenges. Look at what other people have done, and think how you could learn from their experiences. Read up how professionals approach their photography. What can we use from those tips they’ve shared?
Finally, let’s talk about the final ingredient in the mix: the fursuiters.
As I mentioned, I nowadays go mainly for candid shots that depict fursuiter/public interaction. If a magnificent fursuit is just standing around, looking like an oversized plush toy, I tend to not bother. Instead, I follow fursuiters who can perform and understand how to interact with the public.
Through four years in London, I’ve seen several “walkers” (as I term them) blossom into strong performers. These changes did not come overnight. Some naturally improve, others were mentored by experienced fursuiters, others followed on walks unsuited and observed their peers. And some simply shuffle along in the same way, meet after meet.
Some fursuiters I have spoken with have an exercise regimen, so they can perform adequately in fursuit. These are the performers who do handstands, backflips and other amazing physical feats.
Other fursuiters like to practice at home in front of mirrors, to understand how to develop strong poses. And let’s not forget about the dance furs, who can, amazingly, dance in fursuit. I don’t get many such opportunities as I don’t go to cons much (plus the con goers will hate my flash :P), but major props to those fuzzies who not only choreograph a dance, but to get multiple fursuiters working in unison. Magic.
In closing, fursuit photography, or just photography in general, is like any hobby: you can shoot for fun, or follow Alice down the rabbit hole. It is a very enjoyable hobby, and it can get expensive if you choose to let it.
Thankfully I’ve not had equipment lust for years, and am focusing on developing my inner photographic eye with what equipment I have. Till the next time, keep shooting!
Snake Needs to Be a Bit More Bear in Her Relationships
(First and foremost, I apologize if this may seem slightly jumbled and rant-ish, my dyslexia has been kicking in quite a bit during the time of writing this, and despite re-reading it many times over I'm unsure if I remembered to include everything or if this can properly explain the situation.)
Upon a recent breakup with a mate, I have begun to reflect and realize my instability within proper relationships towards others. Before I get into any further depth, I will state that all goes well with my ex-mate; we are still good friends and had a clean breakup, so nothing from that would be influencing my thoughts.
I feel that in the end, regardless of the relationship, that I eventually push the person away from myself. I've never been a super cuddly snake, and doubt that will ever change to accommodate a mate’s personal preference; this, however, of course, is not to say that I would refuse the emotional loving attention. I have always just never preferred them. To be honest, I feel within a relationship that physical, sexual intimacy is one of the few things that keep mine thriving. My libido has always been high, since the beginning of puberty, although it seems to be getting more and more out of hand. When it comes to my relationships, I feel that if there is no sex within it, that somehow I am in a way not being “wanted” for within the relationship. It's almost like my version of a date.
It's always rinse and repeat for me, and while I understand that this is not at all the way relationships work, for some reason it's just happened to work out this way. I feel this has taken a worse turn too, which I will certainly explain in a few moments. With the libido comes the fact that I absolutely loathe being alone. I am aware again that no fur, or average society doobhop, needs a mate in order to be complete, just something about having a mate makes me feel wanted. I've always been happy in all of my relationships, pushing myself to try my best to do what I felt was in my comfort zone to accommodate and display affection towards my mate; and in the most, I've only ever had one that I wanted to break off for my own personal reasons; all others have been because I felt the mate was not doing the best they could, and to help with their happiness within life.
My fears have escalated to the point where I feel uncomfortable becoming how I truly need to be to help within my life. When I say this, I think I need to explain a little bit. I am a transgendered fur, biologically female, however transferring to male, who identifies as a homosexual male. I can easily see how this limits my potential mates within the world, drastically, to the point of where I’m paranoid of becoming alone in life. This paranoia has led to me finding myself almost wanting to deny my transfers, simply for future happiness, although I’m aware that this denial will lead to my outlook worsening. Something I doubt I can afford with the fact that I am mildly depressed, and fighting that along with my self-loathing brought on by this issue.
I'd have to say how I can become more able to handle and maintain a relationship without feeling that physical intimacy is needed, as well as how to handle/be more receptive towards emotional intimacy without it feeling like a lost cause.
Apologies on the jumble of text. I wrote it while going through a more emotional time and therefor may have been almost ranting at the time?
In best regards,
Chai
* * *
Hi, Chai,
Wow, this is one of the most confusing letter Papabear has read; no wonder you are confused, too. Okay, if I have this right, you:
- Have a high libido so you want to have a lot of sex, but now you want to have a relationship in which the physical side is less important.
- You don’t like overly emotional, cuddly relationships, but want to learn how to be more emotional in your relations.
- You are a female who is going to be a male in search of a homosexual relationship.
- You push people away from you when a relationship lasts any length of time.
Although you say your last relationship ended without drama, your inability to maintain a relationship indicates things are not ideal. Break ups are caused by one of three things: there is something wrong with your bf or gf that you can’t tolerate, there is something wrong with you that makes relationships difficult, OR there is a PERCEPTION that something is wrong with one or the other party that is not reflective of reality.
In your case, I believe the problem to be #3. You believe yourself, for one reason or another, to be unlovable or unworthy of love for reasons I cannot fathom based on your letter alone. Perhaps there are some childhood issues behind this that you have not revealed.... The reason, at this point, does not matter so much. The cure is to learn to accept yourself for who you are. This is about the most difficult task a person can face. It is one that yours truly is still struggling with.
The answer for you is not to teach you to be more cuddly or have less of a libido; the answer is to accept yourself and your needs for what they are. Stop apologizing for yourself and have the courage to say, “This is who I am and this is what I enjoy.” If your fondest desire is to be a male homosexual, then that is what you should be. Don’t retreat from that dream because you think it will be harder to find a mate, because if you do you will end up resenting that mate because he prevents you from being your true self.
The same goes for setting up standards and expectations for a mate. If you are rejecting people because they don’t meet your ideals of perfection, then you are going to be lonely for the rest of your life. Nobody is perfect. You need to accept those imperfections and look for the heart inside the other person.
When your next love interest comes along, tell them from the beginning who you are and what you want in a partner. This will save you a lot of time if he doesn’t want the same things or, at least, something close to the same things. Don’t demand the world from your partner, and you should expect the same from him.
It’s quite possible that if you learn to relax around your new partner and set aside expectations other than love and support for one another, you will find yourself more open to emotional intimacy. Your focus will become more about the spiritual, mental, and emotional bond than the physical bond, although that should remain important.
In short, you need to be less snake and more bear. Learn to relax, learn to be yourself, and learn not to overanalyze yourself, your mate, or your relationship. The happy relationship is the accepting relationship.
Hope that helps. Good luck! Wishing you love!
Papabear
So yeah, remember that Furry Fighter idea I had a few days ago...um, I think I've been outdone XD
Review: ‘Sandeagozu’, by Janann V. Jenner
Rabbit Valley release ‘The Mystic Sands’, ‘Pile’, and ‘Gratitude’
Looking for SFW (or low-key yiff) online hangout. Does one exist?
A furry community/forum which is SFW or low-key on the yiff? Perhaps with an opt-in/out area?
I don't hate the yiff, I just want to be able to tune when I so wish.
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