An essential if somewhat overlooked element of my pet photography business for the past 9+ years is my "perfect model", Rowdy. Rowdy's role is to provide me with a subject that will do exactly what I ask for however long it takes for me to get my lighting and angles set up.

If I'm setting up at shows, I can stack Rowdy on the podium, go back to my camera position and just toss toys or milkbones to get him to "come up" into a perfect pose.

If I'm doing a "studio" setup, he'll sit or down for as long as I need and give me great expression when I squeek my toy for those test shots. Because he's a black dog, I can set my RAW exposure for him knowing I'll not blow out any highlights for lighter-colored dogs.

And, best of all, I can take him anywhere because he is the sweetest guy on the planet. I realized yesterday what an advantage it is having this photographic assistant. Here's a shot of Rowdy helping me figure out how to light a black background with one Alien Bee 400 strobe: set high, right in front of the camera position, bounced off of a silver umbrella.



And, no, you can't borrow him. He's all ours .

Jim