Meet a young fox hunter....

Used a small softbox with a Speedlight in it to add extra light, making the background, a backyard, go dark. This added just a smidege too much, though, with the white fur becoming a problem - started to lose detail. The Shadow/Highlight tool in PS CS2 compensated, but it would have been better to nail the exposure better - about half a stop should have done it.

Cute little fella - his first time out in the yard, too!

Used a small softbox with a Speedlight in it to add extra light, making the background, a backyard, go dark. "

Hey Chris,

I like this shot a lot. Did you artificially darken the background at all? Or was it all from the exposure?

I don't see a problem of lack of detail in the fur - except perhaps just at the top of the head. I find this to be difficult though when shooting dogs with white fur...I tend to burn the head just a bit more than I like. The reason for this is because I typically shoot against a background, and my goal is to eliminate shadows. As a result, I tend to have a lot of bounce light coming toward the ground - stronger than the flashes lighting the eyes and face. This causes a slight imbalance in the exposure. Recently, I have been much better at correcting this - but it is always a chore.

James

James, I don't think I adjusted much else in this shot. KNow what you mean, re the top-heavy light...Ideally, for ones like that, I like to get the background light behind the dog, on the floor - positioning myself so that the dog is between me and the light...but dogs often have ants in their pants, so it's not always easy....

Wonderful shot of an adorable puppy. Love everything about it

That is just an Awesome shot. I know the struggle for highlights on Black and white animals. Something has to give and I think this was a good compromise.

What a great shot of this darling pup.