Louie the Spinone Pup-1
Louie is 6 months old and beautiful
Louie is 6 months old and beautiful
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May, 2015Views
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Awards
Fall Award 2020
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Superb Composition
Peer Award
All Star
Magnificent Capture
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this shot at a dog show in Cambridge, MN. in an indoor grooming area that was actually a horse barn. I am a self taught photographer and since we started showing our Spinone Italiano dogs I decided to try my hand at dog show photography in an effort to branch out from landscapes. Plus I was fairly bored sitting around for hours waiting for our dogs to be shown.Time
This was taken at 12:12 PM in natural light. I was eating lunch when the owner let him out of his crate and he jumped up on a grooming table. I dropped my sandwich, grabbed my camera and took this shot as he was looking up at his owner.Lighting
It was a dark horse barn and the dog was standing on a grooming table. The only light was coming in from large barn style doors at either end of the building. He was lit from one side. Fortunately we were near the door rather than further back in the building where it was much darker.Equipment
I shot this handheld with a Canon 6D, EF 100-400mm L lens, without flash. It was taken at 400mm from about 10-12 feet, f5.6, 1/250. I never carry a tripod at dog shows because of the nature of the shooting. I am always moving and when shooting animals you need to keep the camera at your eye or you will miss the important shots. Meaning the ones people will pay for.Inspiration
Studying the work of many dog show photographers, I realized everyone shot the same type of photos. Dogs were either moving or "stacked" (proper standing position) for the judge with a few candid photos of the dogs and handlers here and there. These were typical photos used by owners in advertisements to campaign their dogs for breeding. I wanted something different so I decided to try dog portraits. This was one of my first attempts and led me to pursue this style for the next several years.Editing
The darkened background was done in post-processing using Lightroom. Contrast and clarity were the only other adjustments on this photo. I chose the dark background because there is a lot of clutter, colors, junk, people, chairs, fencing, vendor booths, signs, and more in the background at dog shows. The color and human look of this breed's eyes are natural and one of the distinct aspects of the dog, so in this case I was happy that there were no catchlights. The dark background became my trademark style for this breed and I had many requests to shoot something similar from owners of other breeds once they saw this photo.In my camera bag
A normal kit for me is my Canon 6D body, an EF 50mm f1.8 lens, an EF 70-200mm f2.8 L lens, and an EF 28-135mm lens. I throw in my 100-400mm lens when doing outdoor work for longer range bird and wildlife opportunities. I keep a tripod and/or monopod in my car for things other than dog shows. My camera strap is an Indigo Marble cross-body with neoprene shoulder pad to support the camera weight over the long hours at a dog show.Feedback
Anybody can take a headshot of a dog. I knew our breed so I knew what people looked for when selecting a dog for showing and hunting. For other breeds, I asked owners and studied online to learn the preferred or important aspects of each particular breed. This gave me a head start when it came to producing portraits of dogs for owners. It may take 10 or 20 photos to get exactly what an owner wants but when they see their dog in the proper perspective, showing off those desirable traits, you have a winner. In the case of Louie The Spinone, the head planes, face hair, ears, eyes and nose are desirable aspects of the breed. All of these breed traits are shown well in this portrait.
