Say Hello to Millie

[Colin Southern]

[carregwen]

Colin

You really must find some models and stop these self-portraits... excellent shot though.

[Colin Southern]

Colin

You really must find some models and stop these self-portraits... excellent shot though.

I say Rob, that's a but rough, rough!

[carregwen]

I know, you have a bone to pick with me

Actually, she's a bit of a cutie.....

[Colin Southern]

I know, you have a bone to pick with me

Actually, she's a bit of a cutie.....

She's got to be the most laid back dog in history. You can roll her over - pick her up by all 4 legs - move her to a new position ... and she just stays in the new position. Unless there is food around!

Here's another shot, with her "Mum".

[carregwen]

She's got to be the most laid back dog in history. You can roll her over - pick her up by all 4 legs - move her to a new position ... and she just stays in the new position. Unless there is food around!

Here's another shot, with her "Mum".

Well, gosh!!! They are both pretty cute.

Edit - Someone help out here, I'm struggling.

[Donald]

Edit - Someone help out here, I'm struggling.

Yep. When in a hole, stop digging!

[carregwen]

Yep. When in a hole, stop digging!

Say something nice about Millie then.

[rick55]

Wonderful shot, Colin. I like the dark background: I would have automatically gone for a light background for the dark pet, but this works beautifully, and sets off the pink collar, which is a personality touch for Millie. I'm not a fan of the circular matte, but if you take pics like this, you can frame them however you want.

Cheers,
Rick

[Colin Southern]

Wonderful shot, Colin. I like the dark background: I would have automatically gone for a light background for the dark pet, but this works beautifully, and sets off the pink collar, which is a personality touch for Millie. I'm not a fan of the circular matte, but if you take pics like this, you can frame them however you want.

Thanks Rick I started out with a white background, but it drew the eye away from the subject too much. The actual canvas shot for the customer doesn't have the circular matte, but I liked this presentation a bit better.

[arith]

She's got to be the most laid back dog in history. You can roll her over - pick her up by all 4 legs - move her to a new position ... and she just stays in the new position. Unless there is food around!

Here's another shot, with her "Mum".

Actually I think this is the best photo. Well what do I know. (:

[Colin Southern]

Actually I think this is the best photo. Well what do I know. (:

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the comment Unfortunately, it's a commercial shoot, and the customer just wants the one of the dog

[Alis]

Excellent shot, Colin!

I like it when you and Rob (and Dave) play with words like that. Something almost impossible for someone like me who uses English as a second language

Two questions:

What do you think about the somewhat shallow depth of field that left her body (dog's I mean) blurred? Doesn't it look better to keep everything sharp? With all those lightboxes I see in her eyes, I am sure you could have gone a little bit higher on f number but wondering why you did not

Wouldn't wiping the nose dry be the same as combing the hair and make up for human portraits? Did she (I mean the Mum) like the nose wet? It has caused a little bit of reflection in the picture that is sort of avoidable unless it is something wanted in the Dog owners' world.

Also I think the left side of the collar is too bright and has lost contrast. You may want to burn it a little bit!


Cheers!

[Shadowman]

And well groomed, her coat shows so well in the photograph, not to mention the soul in those eyes.

She's got to be the most laid back dog in history. You can roll her over - pick her up by all 4 legs - move her to a new position ... and she just stays in the new position. Unless there is food around!

Here's another shot, with her "Mum".

[Colin Southern]

Excellent shot, Colin!

Thank you

What do you think about the somewhat shallow depth of field that left her body (dog's I mean) blurred? Doesn't it look better to keep everything sharp? With all those lightboxes I see in her eyes, I am sure you could have gone a little bit higher on f number but wondering why you did not

It was a bit of a stuff-up actually. I thought I was at F11, but I was still at F5.6 with a 2-Stop ND on, from a previous part of the shoot. So personally I'd have liked to have had more depth of field, but having said that, if the whole body was too sharp then I suspect it would distract from the face and eyes too much. The problem was even "worse" in the shot that was printed on canvas as it was a full body shot, but the owners absolutely loved it. Also, having all the "underbelly" in focus probably isn't a great look. So in summary I would have preferred it sharper, but not tack sharp.

Wouldn't wiping the nose dry be the same as combing the hair and make up for human portraits? Did she (I mean the Mum) like the nose wet? It has caused a little bit of reflection in the picture that is sort of avoidable unless it is something wanted in the Dog owners' world.

LOL - that nose was wiped about 100 times - Millie had other ideas!

Also I think the left side of the collar is too bright and has lost contrast. You may want to burn it a little bit!

Yeah. I actually saturated it a lot more in the finished canvas version.

It was my first animal shoot in the new studio with the new lights so I'm still making mistakes but hopefully still learning from them

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Colin,

It was my first animal shoot in the new studio with the new lights so I'm still making mistakes but hopefully still learning from them

OK a couple of other things that struck me about the main shot - very minor, but if you're in 'learn' mode, they may help

The soft box reflection in the dog's left eye is smack over the middle of the pupil which might well be natural given dog's head shape, but (to me) doesn't look quite right. It hides the soul.

There's quite a dark area centre bottom of frame (between front legs I guess) which pulls my eye down away from the face.

Those, while very minor, were my first thoughts on analysis viewing of the top image - after the (already mentioned) collar.

I also thought the background choice was excellent and it is a great shot.

Cheers,

[Colin Southern]

The soft box reflection in the dog's left eye is smack over the middle of the pupil which might well be natural given dog's head shape, but (to me) doesn't look quite right. It hides the soul.

Yeah - I noticed it too. Couldn't really be fixed at the time as Millie's head was all over the place, so the employed technique was "shoot a bunch, and hope for a good one" - and as it happens, the pose for this shot was considerably different from EVERY other shot. So the only other option was just to fix it in post, which I probably should have done, although does that mean I'm revealing a false soul? Probably so ... I presented the canvas today and Millie was there with a deathly / fixated total concentration stare ... no, not on the canvas - on a cheese and tomato toasted sandwich one of the employees was eating. Cupboard love rules

How's this?

There's quite a dark area centre bottom of frame (between front legs I guess) which pulls my eye down away from the face.

Probably not a lot I can do about that as it's shadow where the side of the chest blocks the light into the gap between the chest and the wall. If I clone it or raise the levels I don't think it'll look right - and if I change the crop then I'll end up with the eyes in the centre. To be honest, it doesn't bother me.

I also thought the background choice was excellent and it is a great shot.

The background choice was easy in the end ... the first two didn't really work!

[DavidGee]

Square one with the white background I like.
What is with the name Millie???? I thought all you South Islanders called your dogs DOG in memory of Footrot Flats

For those who have never heard of Footrot Flats:
http://www.oneil.com.au/footrot/ch_dog.shtml

David

[Colin Southern]

Square one with the white background I like.

Hi David,

The customer liked them too ... until she saw the black background ones

What is with the name Millie???? I thought all you South Islanders called your dogs DOG in memory of Footrot Flats

The breeders called her "Miley" (after Miley Cyrus of Hannah Montana fame), but there was no way in heck that the new owners were going to run with that, so "Millie" it became

For those who have never heard of Footrot Flats:
http://www.oneil.com.au/footrot/ch_dog.shtml

"Horse" (the cat) was my favourite character in footrot flats

[CNelson]

Very nice shots Colin...I like the lighting and non-distracting background - especially the first one. Don't tell her "Mum" but Millie looks a bit more like a bat than a dog in the first shot. Or, perhaps a dog that chases parked cars.

Chuck