Big Dog Good Dog
Jan, 2016Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
Bella was getting up there in age and had some health problems so her owners wanted some portraits of her. We planned to start in their backyard and maybe go to a nearby park later. After an hour of portraits with Bella and her owners, she was finished and wanted to rest on her outside bed. We did not get to the park.Time
It was February. We set up chairs and lights with umbrellas and reflectors around 3 P.M. This was taken around 4:30 P.M., with no additional lighting. Indirect sunlight only because we thought we were done and were on our way out.Lighting
Late afternoon indirect sunlight was perfect. We set up umbrellas with flash on light stands but we moved around the space so much, I left the lights behind. Tried to have my assistant move with me but found it was more important to concentrate on expression and wrangling of the pup. It was too difficult to do both. The light was beautiful as it was and I felt I could enhance it in post.Equipment
I used a Fujifilm X-E2 with an 18 to 55mm kit lens. Tried to use an f-stop with plenty of depth of field but still have fast shutter.This was f5 at 1/125 sec ISO 800 and auto white balance. Focal length on the X-lense was 50mm which translates to about 75-80mm for 35mm film camera. No tripod or flash, they were packed up and we were walking out.Inspiration
After an hour of photographing Bella and her owners, she settled on her platform and the light was perfect. Her pose was perfect and I still had my camera in my hand. She was comfortable with me and it was just a matter of me seeing what was in front of me and shooting a few frames. It was a little being at the right place at the right time and a little luck.Editing
I processed the RAW photo with Fuji's RAW file converter and saved it as a tiff file. I processed that in Photoshop layering a black and white image over a color image and changing the blend mode to Soft Light and reduced the opacity until I liked what I saw. Some background elements were distracting so I removed them. An orange Photo Filter warmed it up a little and then I did some dodging and burning.In my camera bag
I carry a Fujifilm X-E2 with 18 to 55mm x lense. A Nikon 50mm 1.8 with fuji adapter. For light I have a Nikon flash and collapsible umbrella fired wirelessly with a Yongnuo trigger. I also have a ND filter for long shutter speeds or to darken ambient when using a flash for portraits. Don't forget a water bottle and a snack.Feedback
Have a plan as to what you are going to do with lighting and posing. Start with some sure thing posing and lighting you know how to do. Just get some shots at the start to get the ball rolling and everyone gets comfortable. You can improvise from there and change plan if things are not working. Your subject can have ideas and that is what I like the best. Then it is more collaborative more fun. Keep your eyes open and discover what your subject wants to show you. Don't put your camera away until you get to the car. This photo was captured at the end of the session when I was saying goodbye but my camera was still in my hand. It also helps to have an assitant to look for things and help get the attention of the animal and keep it interested. Remember that animals have short attention spans so set up the shot and shoot fast then take a break and repeat. Something good will happen.
