Well, although the puppies get the majority of our time, we do actually photograph other subjects. Here are a few shots of Jaiden and his parents who were in for their baby update portraits.

I had to set this up in the family room since the studio is currently the puppy kindergarten but I'm pretty happy with the lighting. Cute kid. Nice parents. It was a fun shoot.









Hope you enjoy these latest "puppy" pics.

Jim

Nice shots Jim! They are no where near as hairy and much less drool than you usual subjects!:-)

The only suggestion I would have is more background light to create more separation from the background, otherwise nice!

Hey Jim, now that I look at these on a better monitor, it looks like the effect you are after here is to not see the backdrop. If that is the case ignore my last post. Maybe instead try a hairlight or rimlight? The have much more definition and depth on this monitor.

Bob,
because of the way I've divided up my space, I had to shoot these with one AB400 so I really couldn't get the edge lighting I usually get with two. However, I like what I got overall.

When I'm back in the studio, I can do more to separate and light the perimeter but with one light bounced off of a 42 inch silver umbrella, I'm pretty happy with the overall lighting effect. And the people love the images. Which, in the long run, is what really counts.

Jim

I like them also, and I'm sure the clients love them. Like I said, on my laptop I couldn't see them well. On my good monitor they look great. If you only used the one b400 you did a terrific job. Typically one light with nothing else, the lighting will look very flat, and these certainly do not. I love the catchlights too. Did you use a shoot through umbrella?

Nice job.

oops, just read again and you said silver umbrella. I could tell it was an umbrella from the catchlights but thought you shot through because of the softness. Very nice effect. I can't get that reflecting. Have you ever tried a beauty dish? I've been playing with mine quite a bit and love it!

Bob,
No I haven't tried a beauty dish but I'm going to rent one and give it a try for the next portrait session. I'm not sure I like the catchlights but I need to try it myself and see if that's a distance issue.

As for the lighting from the silver umbrella, 10 feet away, 6 feet high and it works just fine for me every time. I tend to keep things simple in my lighting because it allows me to concentrate on the subjects. I must admit, however, that I miss some real nice lighting opportunities. I need to expand my thinking some. Also need to add a light or two.

But for shows, the two AB400s are ideal so I'll stick with those for my win shots.

Jim

Paul's beauty dish is awesome! The sock is only like $10 but I don't use it. I like the effect of the dish alone. I have not used it much with pets but with people it's great. If you lived closer you could take mine and try it out on some shoots. I have 2 b400's plus a b1600. I have several modifiers and gels so playing is fun if I can only get willing subjects for all the testing.

There are some really great DIY beauty dishes out there that might be a good place to start for just experimenting. I'll try to dig up some links if you're interested.

Nice skin tone