Cookie's Puppies Are Growing

[rpcrowe]

These cuties are 7-weeks old. I will shoot portraits of the remaining three today and post them on this thread...

Brownie:


Snickerdoodle:


Note: my wife corrected me on the names of Cookie's puppies I erred on previous posts mistaking Snickerdoodle for Macaroon. The reason that the names are important is that they are listed on our rescue website by their names.

[skitterbug]

Your little ones are adorable. How you get them to sit for you is amazing. When our Min. Schnauzer was a puppy, he'd never stop unless he was snoozing. Even when he was older, he'd see me with a camera and shy away. I didn't use flash so I don't know why he didn't like his pic taken, but he didn't! Yours are well done! (No surprise though! )

[rpcrowe]

Thanks Sandy... Regarding how we get them to sit...

1. I use an easy chair with the background cloth draped on it.

This setup restricts their movement with the arms and back of the chair also providing a background... I probably have twenty pieces of fabric of all types for these portraits. I also use a hotshoe flash bounced and modified with a Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Professional.

2. I almost always have my wife helping me. We use a very light-weight and thin show lead to control the dog - and to prevent puppies from jumping off the chair. I will get rid of the lead in Photoshop with a combination of content aware fill and the clone stamp tool.


But the lead doesn't guarantee a decent picture - I get a lot like these...




It can be a long while and a lot of work. I use squeak toys and treats to get the attention of the dogs. Of course, every once in a while, I am lucky enough to get a ham like this girl who was animated from the start...


Frightened dogs are the worse, animated dogs are great...

I shoot with a Canon 5D Mk.ii and a 70-200mm f/4L IS lens from a rolling office chair which allows me mobility at approximately the height of the dogs...

I need at least four shots for our rescue Internet postings. With some dogs, I get the shots I need right off the bat while with others, it is a long and drawn out process. However, I quit when I see that further efforts will not be productive and will do another session a bit later...

We also like to have props available - sometimes the puppies look cute when the props are used. I didn't like the blue background and have reshot this with several different color backgrounds but, haven't caught the same pose...

[Shadowman]

Nice series, that seam or leash looks awkward though.

[Cantab]

Richard, as always I enjoy these dog photos.

This time I especially enjoyed and got a good laugh from the two dud photos in post #3! It was good to see I'm not the only one capable of dud photos of animals.

[rpcrowe]

Nice series, that seam or leash looks awkward though.

I left the lead in these images to illustrate what I was talking about when I said we use a show lead...

[rpcrowe]

This is Lorna Doone...


This is Oreo, the only boy in the litter...

[skitterbug]

Thanks Sandy... Regarding how we get them to sit...

1. I use an easy chair with the background cloth draped on it.

This setup restricts their movement with the arms and back of the chair also providing a background... I probably have twenty pieces of fabric of all types for these portraits. I also use a hotshoe flash bounced and modified with a Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Professional.

2. I almost always have my wife helping me. We use a very light-weight and thin show lead to control the dog - and to prevent puppies from jumping off the chair. I will get rid of the lead in Photoshop with a combination of content aware fill and the clone stamp tool.


But the lead doesn't guarantee a decent picture - I get a lot like these...




It can be a long while and a lot of work. I use squeak toys and treats to get the attention of the dogs. Of course, every once in a while, I am lucky enough to get a ham like this girl who was animated from the start...


Frightened dogs are the worse, animated dogs are great...

I shoot with a Canon 5D Mk.ii and a 70-200mm f/4L IS lens from a rolling office chair which allows me mobility at approximately the height of the dogs...

I need at least four shots for our rescue Internet postings. With some dogs, I get the shots I need right off the bat while with others, it is a long and drawn out process. However, I quit when I see that further efforts will not be productive and will do another session a bit later...

We also like to have props available - sometimes the puppies look cute when the props are used. I didn't like the blue background and have reshot this with several different color backgrounds but, haven't caught the same pose...

Thank you Richard for the details about how you accomplish what you do! It is intriguing to see what you have to go through to produce delightful pics of your charges! And the last two that you've posted, Oreo and Lorna Doone, are just as cute as ever. Hubby and I haven't been too excited about acquiring another puppy but you sure know how to tug on the heart strings with these pics. So I'd say "mission accomplished" in what you are doing! Excellent work in my opinion!

[IzzieK]

Yes Sandy...I always enjoy Richard's puppy/doggie images too. The detailed explanation here is excellent.

[bnnrcn]

Brownie has lovely eyes, very cute puppies