Boy & His Dogs (Click to enlarge)

When all else fails, it’s time to give in.  Everyone’s moving and squirming, and no one wants to look in the same direction.  What do you do?  Well, you just turn it over.

The child in this image was doing all he could to hold it together, and I thought he did a great job of giving us his cutest smile.  The dogs were great too; they were just tired.  Whatever the problem, the squirmy-wormy subjects looked great by adding the motion blur.  The Pug under the boy’s arm had some nerve damage to his mouth, so his tongue hung like that all the time.  What to do?  Why wait for all the dogs to loll their tongues, of course.  Uh huh, I meant to do that 

Charles The Chihuahua Beagle Mix (Click to enlarge)

Digital Painting of Charles (Click to enlarge)

I’m aware that the trend in pet photography is more journalistic in style.  When dogs are free to roam and play at their homes, or in the parks, they exude joy.  Those are moments that family members wish to document and save, for sure.  In the studio it may be a little more difficult to engage them in a playful manner in the particular spot in front of the equipment, but it is certainly possible.  Pet photography can take many directions, all of them interesting.

This is Charles.  His formal portrait was a present from his human mom to his dad.  Though it’s not the animated, cracked mouth, smiley face that his dad may love, it shows that Chihuahua intensity that I see so often in the studio.  When I see the tight lipped, concentrated stare I feel as if I’m gaining access to a side of the animal that is not often seen, yet is the essence of his being.

If you are shooting a pet that you live with, you have many options, as your documentation doesn’t have to happen in a day or an hour.  You are at liberty to tell your story over the course of a lifetime.  I am sharing what I know about photographing pets so that you may have all of these moments in your library.  If you are an aspiring pet photographer or are currently working as one, you’ll want to provide what your client seems to want.  However, it is your job to show them what is possible as well.

In the digital painting on the right, I chose to use that intensity to show a softer vulnerable side, that I believe is Charles’ story.

Believe (Click to enlarge)

Occasionally I will post such images as this because it serves to inspire you to greater versatility.  Although this is not meant to be a Photoshop tutorial, it can encourage you to step even further out of your comfort zone into the post processing arena.  Think of it as enhancing your images.

I began with what I would deem a dang good image of three good buds.  The setup:  Terry is at camera left ducking the hair light right at the edge of the table close enough to touch the dog with the jet airplane ears.  The hair light is on that side about five feet from the side of the table and a little behind.  The owner of these lovelies is at camera right.  These two assistants made sure the dogs were close together.  If you read this blog enough you will know that is one of the factors influencing a really good image to me.  If a photograph is good with multiple animals evenly spaced, then it will be better with them close enough to touch.  The closer the better for my taste.  The timing must be perfect but with a little practice everyone in the room will get it.  Sometimes the animal subjects get it before the humans do.

The post-processing done in Photoshop is minimal.  I like to play with the Poster Edges and Cutout filters.  Just manipulate them to your liking.  I made layers for the umbrella, text and rain.  By the way, you may purchase this signed, unframed, limited edition, 13 x 16 (including a one inch white border – image is 11 x 14) image as a collectible fine art giclee on Hahnemuehle Photo Rag 308 Smooth 100% Cotton paper for $65.  Contact us for sales.

In my heart I know this piece as Believe.  I see the Chihuahua between her two bigger sisters as someone who thinks…correction…knows…that she is just as big and just as fast as her bigger sisters.  Hence, Believe.  It inspires me.  Perhaps it will inspire you as well.

Exiff: 1/160, f11, ISO 200.  What do you think?  Let me know.  Hate it?  Love it?  Or somewhere in between.  Post one of your images too!

Roux & Scrappy (Click to enlarge)

I remarked to an aspiring group of pet photographers I spoke with a few weeks ago that before you’re a pet photographer you are a photographer.  Pet qualifies photographer.  I say this because we bring all our life skills, experiences and moods into the studio or on the set or in the field when we photograph.  We bring our talents and our foibles.  We bring our hearts, souls and our feelings.  You may think saying this is superfluous to photography, and I say, au contraire mon amis, because before we are photographers we are human persons.

We’ve received frightening news regarding the health of a family member recently.  The news has touched all close members as well as those in the periphery.  Emotions radiate and spread to the periphery of the periphery, and the frailty of life that is forever in our midst occasionally becomes the main character on our set.  Animals do not bother to worry about such things as life-spans or even illness if there is no pain.  If a dog approaches a bridge she does not think about crossing or what happens on the other side; she crosses if she wants. It happens in the now.  Good smells?  Then I’m going!  Now.  There is no trip-planning.

Which brings me to Roux and Scrappy, 12 and 11 years old respectively.  Their owner is a gentle loving man who loves these two people immensely and does plan a future.  He arrived at the studio with Roux, an American Bull Dog and Scrappy, a Red Nose Pit Bull, in tow.  Roux is beginning to show some age and is definitely not the gal she was in her prime years, but she worries not.  She still gets into the occasional tiff with Scrappy and she still thinks she’s the alpha dog.  She waits for her home cooking and forays about in her yard, but does not worry about what is happening on the other side of the bridge.  A blessing.

Roux and Scrappy’s dad wanted to be sure to have that loving documentation that humans desire.  It conjures those feelings of warmth that we remember while looking at that photographic representation.  It is not only a picture of our pets.  It is the depiction of the profound love we share with our pets.  Take many photos.  Write many words, for in the timelessness of our love resides the reality that we are human persons first.

Exif:  1/250, f11, ISO 200.  As always, please comment on my post and/or photo or post something of yours.  You may notice something about the crop that I’ve always said not to do.  Can you tell me what it is?  And can you tell me why I presented it like this?  Be safe, mon amis.