Do any of you use always on lighting instead of strobes? I'm thinking specifically about subjects that area frightened by the flash in a studio-ish setting.

Dealing with the strays, I see my fair share of frightened dogs. Saturday however was probably my worst day behind a camera in a while.

I had one dog that was so afraid that I just called off the session after a couple shots and sat there talking to dog and handler trying to calm him down.

Three others were really spooked by the flash. I don't mean just a little, these dogs about jumped out of there skin with the flash. So I turned it off and upped the ISO a bit.

I was looking at the Westcott Spiderlite TD3 / TD5 lights, but I think I can probably build something pretty close.

I have only had one true flash phobic dog. I got ONE photo of him before he was flipped out beyond hope. I think it is fairly rare to have truly scared out of their wits dogs

That's probably true when I start dealing with dogs who have homes.

These were SPCA dogs and at their first "open house." Probably just too much for them.

Funny, the most scared dog that day is the one I got the best picture of. It was a crappy day results wise.

Jim, just interview people before they come to you. I do at a minimum a phone interview with pet people. Ask them about their dog, and they will know if flash scares them. If they say they are truly phobic of it, do an outdoor natural light session

Thanks. Great idea for private sessions. I imagine if the dog is that frighty, I won't be seeing them at pet carnivals and other large events where I would have on location portraits.

Thanks
Jim

Jim
the Spyderlites might be a good alternative to strobes. Especially with the shelter animals. Like Julie, I've not had major issues with my studio lights but I've not done as much work as you are with the shelter guys. That's a highly stressful situation for them to begin with and to put them into a strange situation with lights popping doesn't help.

Years ago, I built a studio above my garage that had a huge skylight for daylight shooting and track lighting running down the middle into which I placed photofloods which I just aimed at the white walls and ceiling for my portrait lighting. It worked fine and gave me the ability to actually see the shadows before I started shooting.

Jim

Hey Jim,

The other alternative is getting something like a video light. They warm up the composition very nicely and act as a nice alternative to strobes (which I prefer). I have only had one truely scared dog during the period of time that I have been doing this. She was a former 'test dog' for a company that did live animal tests and was quite skittish.

James

I hadn't thought of a video light, thanks for the idea.

That whole "test dog" thing is sad and enough to make me really angry

"That whole "test dog" thing is sad and enough to make me really angry"

It is a sad part of life, unfortunately. My biggest complaint about animal testing is that so often the research has absolutely no bearing on human cases...this is particularly true in the medical and cosmetic industries.

Cheers
James