Obviously, I need more work on light placement

Awesome Julie. I think if you got it this good by the third try, only good things are to come. That is one cute puppy or two. The second shot in you second set is great, the little bald dog.

Definitely want to be on the edge of high key. I just love a white backdrop as it is so clean

This puppy is a show puppy and to be competive in the US, they are clipped. You *can* show with natural ears but finishing is extremely difficult.

My friend with Danes won't crop the pet puppies ears, but does crop the show puppies ears.

I don't disagree with you and my friend will tell you that it is cosmetic and isn't pleasant. Which is why the pet puppies do not have it done

The dogs do not suffer much after the first day with the ears though. It is more a pain for the people than the dogs. Well, I don't think the dogs enjoy the taping either

I have whippets and mutts. So, the worst I am going to do is shave the husky mutt to reduce shedding. I have been threatening that for many years and haven't done it yet. Though I still may!

Here is a guy who has put together a load of short tutorials on classic portrait photography. He is shooting people, but the setups are similar.

Flash setups

Julie,
my favorite is when they use dixie cups to hold up the taped ears! Great TV reception I hear : )

These are very nice. Using a high key background makes things more difficult than they need to be but that's an artistic choice. I always use mottled backgrounds because the shadows disappear -- especially in high-volume work where I don't have the time to be cloning out shadows on every frame.

Are the umbrellas white or silver? I find that silver reflectors really snap up black dogs (and as an owner of Rotties, I really understand black dogs). I use the white umbrellas for people because they create softer highlights and shadows.

Keep practicing! Nice Dobe puppy, by the way.

Jim

PC,
as someone who breeds and exhibits Rotties I have to respectfully disagree with you on this point. The docking of Rottie tails was always functional based on the jobs they were bred to do. That's why it was part of the breed standard in every country all over the world.

Several years ago, the animal rights groups lobbied to get Germany to change their standard and the rest of the European countries pretty much followed suit.

Here in the states, we maintain the "original" standard: tails docked short, close to the body, within one or two vertebrae.

I'm not going to comment on the "global" correctness of cropping or docking. Or on far more important issues such as global warming. I will simply say that in the US, the AKC Rottweiler Standard calls for dogs to be exhibited docked.

Having docked 17 puppies over the past 10 years I can tell you that it leaves no long-term trauma. In fact, done at 3 days, it has no impact on the pups after 24 hours.

Jim

Hi Jim, you're not disagreeing with me: my point was that the decision here in Australia is a done deal: it can't be reversed so the breeders have to live with it (and the Standards of course now have to allow tails). As in Europe it was the animal rights lobby that got it going for all the wrong reasons and without knowing the implications to some breeds (or caring). The argument here before the legislation scraped through was vitriolic: the Kennel Clubs were their own worst enemy as they resorted to silly libelous behaviour and lost a lot of cred. But yes it was more about politics and power games than dogs' tails for sure.

Global warming is another given eh! We mightn't like it but we've sure got it.