GinaSierra
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rascalphoto
April 17, 2015
Awesome shot, Gina. Welcome to VB.
I look forward to seeing more of your work!
I look forward to seeing more of your work!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in my home studio in Danbury, CT. A friend of mine brought his puppy, Julie, over for a play date with my dog. So of course, during the visit we had to capture her at this cute, awkward stage!Time
This was about mid-afternoon; the best part about studio portraits for pets is that you can shoot at any time, day or night- whatever works best for the dog.Lighting
There is one Alien Bee 800 camera left, paired with a 64" Soft Silver PLM with white diffusion cover. It's nice and big, perfect for furry friends of any size. ;)Equipment
I used my Nikon D3 and my favorite lens: the Sigma 50mm 1.4Inspiration
Many dogs are fidgety, but it's especially hard to hold a puppy's attention. We got lots of fun wiggle photos, some great shots in a prop airplane (requiring much discipline on Julie's part!) and a few great shots of Brian and Julie together. My favorite images, though, are always ones that show genuine connection. I just love the way she looks up at him adoringly. There's a special kind of loving friendship that exists between dogs and people... I did my best to capture that, while also preserving a record of just how tiny she is at this stage.Editing
I do very minimal post processing on animal portraits. I bumped up the contrast a little on the black and white, with the slightest dodge/burn here and there for a little extra pop!In my camera bag
My Nikon D3 body is a trooper, and I use it for everything. I originally selected it for its amazing low light performance for weddings, but it's a great choice for the studio as well. All of my lenses are Sigma, however, because they won me over when I first tried out their 50mm 1.4 Art lens and I never looked back! I use the 50 very often for pet portraits, because it offers a lot of flexibility in a light weight, fast package!Feedback
Connection, connection, connection! So often, I see photographers getting caught up on posing/creating the perfect photo. Most of my work is heavily influenced by photojournalism. When creating portraits, I do my best to craft an artful image... but at the end of the day, I want my work to reflect the authenticity that comes with a real life moment. We got dozens of beautiful photos from this session of Julie posing with Brian and with props, but this genuine moment between them is a clear favorite. The look of love on her face is priceless!