My Dog in Black and White

[andrewsugi]

This is Yohji, my dog pet. This is his first and black photo. I took this when he was eating and he threw his head away when I tried to took the photo.

Please gives comments about the photo. Thanks.

1/20s, f/2, ISO 200, @50 mm (35mm focal length), edited in Lightroom

[LePetomane]

My dog growls whenever I get near her with a camera.

[madcrow]

That's because you never capture her good side. I think you got it this time. Love your image.

[Shadowman]

Nice shot.

[andrewsugi]

My dog growls whenever I get near her with a camera.

Lol!

My dog was also a bit nervous when I tried to get close to it with my camera. Maybe Cambridge in Colour needs to add an additional tutorial about "How to Get Close to an Animal". Just saying.

[rpcrowe]

"Maybe Cambridge in Colour needs to add an additional tutorial about "How to Get Close to an Animal". Just saying."

Andrew... Here are a few pointers...

Combine the camera with treats. Every time the camera comes out, give your dog a treat My dogs are used to seeing a camera at the end of my arm and have learned that this usually means a treat

It is a great asset to have someone hold the dog while shooting portraits. This, of course, is not always possible, especially when shooting candid shots. My wife has become very adept at holding a dog.. She stands behind the chair I use for a posing platform and holds the dog using a thin show lead. That way we stabilize the dogs position...



I will clone out the lead in Photoshop when I crop and resize the image and put a border on it for posting on a rescue web site...



The advantages of having the dog under control is that I am able to shoot from a distance away (I usually shoot with a 70-200mm lens on a Canon 5Dii full frame camera). That way I can use a longer focal length lens and, as in shooting people portraits, the face of the dog is not distorted with a nose as long as Pinocchio which would happen if shot from close up with a wider focal length. I shoot from a rolling office chair which allows me mobility and places my camera just about level with the dog's eyes. However, it is difficult to shoot from a slightly distant position unless: the dog is well trained (this rules out most rescues) or someone is holding the dog. Getting a dog's attention with a treat is fine but, unless the pooch is kept away from the camera, it will be jumping up on me for the treat!

Additionally, I always shoot with a flash bounced off the ceiling and use a reflector-diffuser (such as the Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Pro) to direct some of the light forward. This way, I get catchlights in the dog's eyes but don't end up with the ghostly green-blue eye, the dog's version of people's red eye

I mostly choose an outdoor setting for larger dogs. It is really handy when a dog is well trained. I used a 300mm prime from a distance for this shot!



Of course shooting action shots is fun also. I was sitting on a small folding stool in my yard and throwing the ball for this dog who just loved to play fetch...



And sometimes the dogs pay absolutely no attention to me whatever I am doing





Having a camera set up, ready and handy is another strategy...



And sometimes I just get lucky...



Additionally, a couple more things impact a dog portrait...

1. Just like a portrait of a person, grooming matters. You just cannot shoot a flattering portrait of an ill-groomed woman and it is virtually impossible to shoot a flattering portrait of an ill-groomed dog. I shoot "entry" photos to record what the dogs look like when they arrive. But these are not meant for anything but documentation and to establish a baseline. We have a groomer who often grooms our rescue dogs free of charge. I did a composite of Oliver's entry image and his image after grooming, printed it in a large poster size and gave it to the groomer to post in her shop...



2. Also, just like in people portraiture, the background in a dog portrait is very important. Messy or busy backgrounds distract from the subject. Posing position and camera angle plus focal length and f/stop (selective depth of field) can do a lot to eliminate bad backgrounds...



I shot this using a 70-200mm f/4L IS lens. However, even the Canon kit telephoto lens (55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS) would be capable of this image which I shot on a crop camera using ISO 400 with an exposure of 1/250 second @ f/5.6. I used a hotshoe flash but, the built-in flash would have been sufficient...