Sleepy Puppy
Close-up of a sleepy Weimaraner puppy
Close-up of a sleepy Weimaraner puppy
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Apr, 2013Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was a planned shot in my mom's house right behind the house where the puppies were born, so I went and asked the neighbor to lend me the dogs for a few hours one afternoon which he did and since he was selling the puppies he'd benefit from having some good shots to promote the sale!Time
It was on an afternoon, but it does not matter since I used electronic flash with a high enough shutter speed and f/stop combination to block out all ambient light.Lighting
I wanted to use a smooth surrounding lighting so I used a 1600 watt/second studio mono light strobe unit shooting through an umbrella on the right side at 90 degrees and aiming down about 30 deg. just feathering over the top of the puppy's head and a collapsible silver reflector as a fill light from the left, which makes it appear as if the main light is on the left and at the same time the gradation of the light being reflected on the silver disc produces an interesting catch light on the dog's eyes.Equipment
I shot with a Sony full frame A850 a Paul C. Buff White Lightning X1600 Flash Unit, a Sigma 105 f/2.8 Macro Lens.Inspiration
I love dogs specially when they are new born until they are 4 to 6 months old. A friend who lives behind my mom's home has been breeding and selling Weimaraner puppies and enjoyed watching them growing up until all were sold. All the time I would feel like asking him for a chance to have the puppies for a photo shoot, until the time came up again and I heard the noise of a new litter. I talked to my friend and ask for them and in return I'd give him some of the best shots for him to promote the sale. So, I went and pick them up and had 'em for a good 3 hours, it was really fun they just had eaten so they played for a little while got some good shots and then they started falling asleep, that's when I got this great shot!Editing
I shoot RAW and do some post-processing, I use the NIK Collection software as a plugin on my Adobe CS6 Photoshop, and I usually do a little levels and curves adjustment to improve the contrast, a little high pass filter applied selectively to sharpen some details and finish with some Define to get rid of any noise and artifacts from jpeg conversion.In my camera bag
I change the lenses on my bag depending on what I'll be shooting, if I'm doing portraits I'll carry a 17mm, a 50 f/1.4, a 105 f/2.8 Macro and maybe a 70-200 f/2.8. If I'm shooting food, mostly I use a 50 f/2.8 Macro and the 105 f/2.8 Macro. When I shoot travel points of interest for Expedia.com, I carry my carbon fiber tripod (travel size) which fits in my bag and does not break my back and for glass I carry the 17mm super wide angle, a 28-75 f/2.8 zoom lens and the 50mm f/1.4, would love to use every now and then the 70-200 f/2.8, but it really is too heavy to carry from dawn to dusk and for several days, I can get closer by just walking, so, it stays home.Feedback
Animal or pet shooting requires you to plan ahead, at least to have an idea of what you'd like to end up with. You will also need a lot of patience, they don't do immediately what you ask them for. If possible you'd benefit from anticipating what their response will be to a noise or sound or showing them something, like when you make a squeak sound with your mouth and the dog tilts the head and bam, you got the shot! Also be prepared for any mess that can occur because most likely it will.
