My friend's kennel is "Rhine Saints" http://www.rhinestbernard.com/ Her name is Angie and we have known each other for 20 years. We met riding horses. She is small blonde, toting two kids and a husband. Her daughter is showing in the JR ring now.

I have not taken any pictures for her, as we haven't gotten time together for it. I will practice on her dogs too after this weekend. They are on their way down there right now

It would be a blast to be at the Eukanuba

Julie, are you practicing for shooting for dog show publications, or shots along the lines of Blue n' Sue/ Bandito on Jim's website here? http://www.cpmcreative.com/Portraits/Dogs/index.html

Julie,
I think if you visit the site and look at my show shots/formals, you'll see what I mean.
http://www.cpmcreative.com/Show%20Shots/Formals/index.html

For the Doberman shots, I'm actually positioned right off of the left shoulder blade so I see the front legs as one. That's full profile.

The Bassett Hound is just off of full profile and you see two front legs. That's what I'd call a 7/8th. The Rotties, Poodles and most of the other Toy Breeds are more 3/4 with the Pug being almost straight on. Pugs, for formals, are always shot just off of looking straight at you because their most important feature is the headpiece.

I point this out not because you're planning on shooting shows (at this point) but because if you shoot informal portraits and you happen to have the dog standing, the expectation will be to show the dog the way it is posed in the ring. Even my informals -- most of them shot outside for advertising purposes -- will try to feature the headpiece and also the body posed so it looks good. For an example of that, check out the Lumpy photos in the Ocala1105 folder.

I personally would rather shoot informal portraits preferably with owners. Seeing dogs interact with the people they love is always better than just seeing the dog alone. At least to me.

I hope that helps. Keep asking and I'll try to keep answering.

Jim

I think you were answering to me, too, there Jim - so thanks a bunch. Those explainations make sense.

My goal would be to utilize the owner as much as makes sense - obviously the goal is a comfortable dog in their own surroundings. In the end, owners want a portrait of their dog - which entails catching their personality. That'll only happen if the pooch is comfortable.

I'd also feel much better have the owner involved - they know the dog much better and the dog will certainly feel better with them around, rather than a stranger who smells of other dogs...LOL

Thanks again.

Beautiful shots and a lot of good information in this thread. Have you ever tried a reflector on the shaded side to bring out some details in the shadowed areas? I have a big piece of cardboard with tin foil duct taped to it, but I've only had my camera equipment a few weeks and we've had nothing but dark skies and rain the whole time so I've not had the opportunity to practice with that yet. Just wondering how much of a difference that would make on a sunny day. I suppose it would be more difficult with horses, being a spookier species