Regarding Backgrond For Dog Portraits

[rpcrowe]

Most of my dog portraits are of smaller size dogs since I shoot for our rescue group Maltese Rescue California and we specialize in rescuing smaller dogs.

My standard setup for the smaller size dogs is a reclining chair covered with some background fabric of which I have a large collection since I photograph dogs of many colors. The back and sides of the chair somewhat restrict the pet's movements and I will often have my wife stand behind the chair using a thin show lead to further control the pet. I clone out the lead. It is important to control the dog and I won't even think of doing formal portraits without the help of an assistant. It is a great help to have an assistant experienced in controlling a dog for portraits! It is also a great help (but, not totally required) to have established rapport with the dog before the portrait session. For some dogs a treat or a squeak toy is all that is required.

If I am shooting with the owner of the dog, I don't want the owner controlling the dog from behind the chair. Instead I want the owner standing behind me. Then the dog's attention will be attracted towards the camera,,,



However, this would not be easy for people with larger dogs that would not fit in the confines of the "chair studio"

In this case, the problem regarding background is the same with a dog as it is with people: to have a background that doesn't draw attention away from the subject. I have a great advantage in that my yard has many good places for portraits. But, there will often be parks or open country providing an environment suitable as a BG.

First way to minimize the background is the standard procedure of shooting with a long focal length at a relatively close distance to the dog blurring any potential BG distractions..

This was shot at 300mm f/5.6 taking advantage of the ice plant as a BG...



It is nice to have a wide aperture for this type of shot, but, as long as you are close to your subject and are using a long focal length, the BG can be blurred at relatively small apertures, so even kit telephoto lenses can capture an image like this, shot with a crop sensor camera at an effective 267mm focal length at f/5.6.



Sometimes luckily in serendipitous moments, the dog will be in a position of his/her choosing that will make a good background. An example is this shot of my daughters Lab as she was lying in a dark couch. I knew that the background of the dark couch would make a good BG - especially when converted into B&W.



It is really helpful to have a camera set up ready for any grab shot... In his case, a plain BG is not really a necessity - they are not portraits but, cute shots of a dog reacting to the environment...



A bank with ground cover is often a great choice but, this is quite often under the category of "Luck Shots" only attainable if you have a bank and have the camera ready. When the dog is on the bank, its eyes are level with the camera without the photographer needing to squat down. This is a great advantage for an arthritic old geezer like me...



I will most often try to shoot from the dog's eye level but sometimes will shoot action shots from slightly above eye level to have green grass as a background. I shot this sitting on a lawn chair while playing "fetch" with the ball...



Of course, if space and equipment allow, a large size background and a shooting table will provide maximum flexibility as will using multiple studio lights...



But, an outdoor shot of this pup is equally as nice...



And/// sometimes it is better to be quick and lucky...



BTW: the addition of multiple dogs increases the difficulty of posing for the shot geometrically. When my wife said that she wanted a portrait of our four dogs for last year's Christmas card, I thought "Right! Posing four of them will be a problem"

I used a length of green fabric with some small stars as a background. I wanted it to be Christmas oriented but, did not want to overwhelm the dogs. I covered the couch with this fabric and that elevated the dogs a bit. I used my standard technique of sitting on a roll around chair to position myself and set up one softbox at camera left with an on-camera hotshoe flash bounced of the ceiling and modified with my Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Pro.

It was a matter of luck and a matter that these were my dogs are well used to me but, they surprised me and seemed to actually pose...



The gist of this post is that there are many ways to photograph large dogs but, the background problems in that type of photography are akin to photographing people: don't let the BG compete with the subject...

Note: In almost all cases, I will use flash with the Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Pro as a modifier. This provides texture in the coat and will provide catchlights in the eyes. Of course, indoors it will provide the extra light needed to shoot at an f/5.6 or f/8 aperture.

Note 2: While some folks like shots of a dog using a wide focal length that distorts the dog's nose.I don't like that effect and will most often shoot with a focal length of 90 to over a 100 mm (either true FL with a full frame camera or equivalent FL with a crop camera) just like I do with people portraits.

[pschlute]

Nice write-up Richard.

For indoor "formal" dog portraits I tend to prefer a black Lastolite collapsible background, but I also like using a Highlite that is lit from within. With my own two pups I tend to put the camera on a tripod, pre-focussed and triggered by remote as I act as my own assistant (remember to give the dog the treat and not the remote!).

I generally use a softbox or socked reflector dish as key with an umbrella as fill, but have also experimented with snoots and kicker lights. As an amateur, I really enjoy learning about using flash creatively, something for years I never tried.