The Nature, Wildlife and Pet Photography Forum - Fine Art Landscape Photography
More shelter dogs
Posted By: Julie
More shelter dogs - 01/31/09 01:15 PM
Posted By: Jim Poor
Re: More shelter dogs - 01/31/09 02:09 PM
Oh how cute. My shelter shoot for today got cancelled
How do you feel about the pink "spilling" on to the subjects? When I do a blue-screen shoot outside, I get that a lot and it drives me nuts, so I end up removing the blue cast from the fur. I suppose they
are in a pink environment, so it would be natural to have that reflect off of them.
I'm curious what you and others think about that.
Posted By: Peggy Sue
Re: More shelter dogs - 01/31/09 02:17 PM
Julie, I adore these images and what you are doing. Can you stay detached?
Posted By: Julie
Re: More shelter dogs - 01/31/09 02:21 PM
It doesn't bother me. The sole purpose of these photos is to make the dogs look like you want to take them home. There were some things I did in removing leashes that I will change later. In the name of speed, there was a little lack of attention to detail.
The color does reflect back up and that can be noticed, but, it doesn't bug me
The pit bulls pull at my heartstrings the most, because they are the hardest to place. They are almost always the best behaved for me. I do stay pretty detached though. I have enough dogs at the house and the thought of more makes staying detached easy!
Posted By: Peggy Sue
Re: More shelter dogs - 01/31/09 03:49 PM
For months I have tried to volunteer to do the same for our local new facility. After writing and visiting in person, they just don't want my help. Their image on line are awful and I know better pictures would help, but I have to look other places to donate my time.
What a huge effort! And the images are wonderful! They really accomplish your intended purpose too. Impressive.
Posted By: Jim Poor
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/01/09 02:15 PM
Quote:
It doesn't bother me. The sole purpose of these photos is to make the dogs look like you want to take them home. There were some things I did in removing leashes that I will change later. In the name of speed, there was a little lack of attention to detail.
The color does reflect back up and that can be noticed, but, it doesn't bug me
The pit bulls pull at my heartstrings the most, because they are the hardest to place. They are almost always the best behaved for me. I do stay pretty detached though. I have enough dogs at the house and the thought of more makes staying detached easy!
Thanks for the reply.
I hear you on the pits. There are two at the first rescue I started shooting for that have been there for years. They are both very sweet dogs.
Posted By: Jim Poor
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/01/09 02:17 PM
Quote:
For months I have tried to volunteer to do the same for our local new facility. After writing and visiting in person, they just don't want my help. Their image on line are awful and I know better pictures would help, but I have to look other places to donate my time.
Have you tried a rescue group instead of a shelter? A lot of the government run shelters don't accept volunteers (liabilities?). I sent out a note to every rescue & shelter within 50 miles volunteering my services and offering to do fundraisers. None of the government shelter have answered.
Posted By: Julie
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/01/09 03:09 PM
Peggy, one of the directors came to my studio first, and I volnteered to do this when I dropped her photos off.
I don't know if they would have said yes as readily had I not been walked around by my client.
I think people are leery when they don't know you. I can't imagine why they wouldn't want you to volunteer.
Posted By: Peggy Sue
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/01/09 06:19 PM
Great idea Jim and thanks for the input on the governmental problems. I also agree on the terriers. A friend of mine has raised Am. Staffs for many years and has hundreds of Therapy dog visits. They are great and it is an up hill battle all the time to prove how wonderful they are.
Posted By: Peggy Sue
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/01/09 06:23 PM
I absolutely love the second image. It is so wonderful. I still do not how you make that Pink work. Funny how any color can work with the right image. What a wonderful gift you give them.
I often wonder when I offer to give free images that they may not value them or think there is some motive for my volunteering. I will find some to help. Thanks for the inspiration.
Posted By: Jim Poor
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/01/09 07:42 PM
When I contact a new group, I give them a really big spiel on how a nice, professional portrait goes a long way to show the dog in the best light rather than a sad-looking dog with a distracting background, people hands, feet, etc.
Then I include a link to samples on my site as well as several other rescues that have my photos up.
Posted By: Julie
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/02/09 01:02 AM
I think it is just getting the right person on the right day. It is a lot of work for the shelter to do these photos when I come. They have multiple volunteers handling the dogs.
They may have had a bad experience with a photographer and really who knows?
Posted By: psmith
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/02/09 03:25 PM
Julie you are to be commended for your work with these pups, and also for the quick turnaround. To give them back shots like these in 24 hours is impressive. No, I don't care for the pink spill, but I understand why it is acceptable in this case. Pink is eye-catching which is the point of the photos. It also serves to make the Pit look a little less menacing. And, heck, you can't change out backgrounds between 73 shoots in a few hours. So you've broken the rule very nicely. And if you help get some of them adopted then you have a few dozen new potential customers. Nice work.
Hey Julie,
I love the pink background. Now, it is shifting from image to image...is that intentional? Also, what are you using for the backdrop? Is it muslin, or are you using something else?
James
Posted By: Julie
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/06/09 02:12 PM
It is photo paper. Adds a little expense, but so much easier to deal with than cloth. Not to mention I don't have to wash anything
The colors are different because I processed a lot of these differently. They are all the same WB and exposure. I had to remove leads from all of them(some of them are done very messy and if I were to print them, I would clean that up)
Posted By: Jim Poor
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/06/09 02:18 PM
How do you feel about Vinyl for this type of thing?
I figure photographically, it will offer the same benefits as paper, but is more durable and easier to just wipe off. I'm sure I've talked about it before, but I'm trying to justify the expense.
Posted By: Julie
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/06/09 03:52 PM
Vinyl will be heavier and a little more unwieldy, but definitely tougher and reusable. I don't have to take lightstands with me to use paper. I just tape it on the wall. I would think colored vinyl might have too much reflection, but, I don't think I have seen vinyl except for white!
Hey Julie,
How much of your business is on location now that you have your studio?
James
Posted By: Julie
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/07/09 02:12 AM
The only stuff I have done on location in the last three years is outdoor stuff and I would say that from April-Oct it is mostly outdoor location stuff. Through the rainy muddy months it is mostly studio work
I had my garage set up as a studio for a year. I reallllly hate hauling stuff around.
Posted By: Jim Poor
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/07/09 01:35 PM
Are you using the small (4 ft) rolls? I find them too narrow for some of the rescue (and other) dogs that are less than well trained as well as some of the bigger breeds.
I'm not sure about colored Vinyl either, but I wonder how "paintable" it might be. Also, I've been thinking about Vinyl table cloth material in bulk, which comes in many colors, but isn't quite as thick as I would like.
Quote:
Vinyl will be heavier and a little more unwieldy, but definitely tougher and reusable. I don't have to take lightstands with me to use paper. I just tape it on the wall. I would think colored vinyl might have too much reflection, but, I don't think I have seen vinyl except for white!
Posted By: Julie
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/07/09 02:31 PM
It is the 53" paper. You really need to have assistants to hold the dogs while you shoot them. I have found it to be plenty wide for a person/dog, up to 2 dogs. Just make sure they are in the middle of the paper.
These were all shelter dogs and while very sweet, very differing levels of cooperation. I would never do a shoot with rescues without making sure they know they will have to have assistants. Shoot vertically vs horizontally.
Its just such an easy clean background. I leave what I used with them, so they can use it more. My the end of the session is it pretty well trashed.
I would think painted vinyl would be scratched quickly by toenails. I could even imagine it flaking off.
Posted By: roley
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/13/09 01:04 AM
I love these Julie, the pink background is so appropriate for shelter dogs I think. The pink cast dosn't bother me, but then as an artist (drawing/painting) putting reflected background colours into animal fur is quite normal.
I would love to do something like this, but I am not one for studio photography. Is there anyway to these type of shots without expensive studio lighting? All my photography is outdoors so I really can't justify the expense of a full studio set up (especially as we are moving to the country).
Posted By: Julie
Re: More shelter dogs - 02/13/09 01:42 PM
You can do photos outdoors, it is a little more challenging as you have weather to deal with and it is a little less safe. I do local celebrity photos with the animals outdoors. No reason you can't do them in a pretty area though.
I do about half my work in the studio and half environmental. Both have their pros and cons. I like both equally and what I can do artistically with them about equally. I think I lean a bit toward the outdoor side as I love natural light. Though, people all seem to go bannanas over these colored paper shots.
The ability to do stuff with studio lights will set you apart from the masses of people with a digital camera. Which, only matters if you want your income to come from photography
