First photo shoot

I am probably going to cringe at the critiquing, but I would like some honest comments on how I did last night.

I finally got to get out of the house last night and do a photo shoot with two Australian Shepherds. It was a LOT more challenging than I had anticipated. I had brought my Alien Bee, Softbox, 5 in 1 reflector, 2 backdrops and their stands. I ended up not using the reflectors at all, it was too crowded and chaos was starting to reign. The dogs were excited to see me and the owner who was originally going to hold the reflectors had her hands full with keeping the dogs still. I was there about 1-1/2 hours, but that included setup and take down along with a water break for the dogs. (and sanity break for me!)








The rest of the photos I took can be found here:
http://wagsandwhiskers.smugmug.com/gallery/13696017_uaciz/#1000930688_jrfNZ

Thanks everybody!

Looks nice. Good job with the red BG too. Red is tough for digital sensors.

I really like the two head shots. Very nice.

In looking at your Smugmug gallery I would suggest a rule of thumb in doing more than one animal is to put the darkest one closest to the light.

Thanks Jim, I really like that red. I was thinking Christmas shots with it.

Thanks Preston. I had the darker dog first, but he is larger and just towered over the other one. I'll try that with him laying in front, and the other one in back sitting. Thank you for the suggestion.

The really funny thing is that I had already seen one of those head shots. Turns out that the owner is on my FB friends list and I got the "so-and-so and a billion others" changed their profile picture notice.

Watching the rest of the photos pop up in my feed as they are being tagged.

LOL! FB is a small world isn't it? So is agility! I do like the pic she changed her profile pic to. It was my favorite.

Penny,
these are very nice. I think you did an outstanding job, especially with one light. Sometimes it's hard to get the light wrap with one but these look good. Oh, BTW, I love the background. It works great with these Aussies.

Jim

Thank you Jim.

When going to client's homes, should I attempt to set up 2 lights and softboxes? I only have one softbox and a shoot through umbrella, but the shoot through is a hot light, so I have no way of dialing down the wattage. At the moment I just can't afford another SB and AB.

I worry about not having enough room in homes to set up for a full shoot, so I have been concentrating on perfecting shots with only one light.

When I was doing only in home or on location, I set up 2-3 AB's. You learn to get creative and you also learn to insist on a certain amount of space. (Garages work nicely)

One light will certainly work, and one light and a reflector isn't a bad option if you have a stand for the reflector.

You probably don't want to mix your AB with a hot light. The AB puts out so much more power that the hot light will pretty much not figure into the equation, and when it does, it won't match the AB in terms of color temp or quality.

Thanks for the info Jim, that is what I was thinking about the lighting. I appreciate you confirming it.

Penny,
I often use one light only with a parabolic reflector for location shoots and set it high -- about 7' off the floor -- just off of center. It wraps the light just fine and the high location makes for no shadows.

For other shoots, I'll use two ABs bounced off of silver umbrellas and, at times, I've used my 580EX and just bounced it off of white ceilings or walls (or both). Since you often don't know what you're going to have to deal with on location, I tend to bring everything but the kitchen sink and then use what works for that particular spot.

Here in Florida, garages are not really an option since we have temps in the 90's pretty much all year round but any room in a house will work and I especially like to use rooms that the dogs are comfortable in. And, if they have a special chair or couch, I'll drape that piece of furniture with the backdrop so they are even more relaxed. Learning what you can -- and cannot -- do with your given lighting options will give you much greater flexibility when you walk into that "impossible" location .

Jim G.

Penny I think these are really very nice, especially for just having one light! I think if you'd been able to prop up a reflector somehow you'd have caught more shadow behind but they look great, especially the head shots. Very pretty dogs too.

Diana

Thanks you Jim for outlining your work flow. As soon as I can, I'll get another Alien Bee. I love mine. How is the light from a reflector umbrella different from softboxes? Does the umbrella wrap more since it is a curved surface?

Thank you Diana! I'm a work in progress, but with everybody's help and suggestions, I actually feel like I am getting somewhere.

Penny,
I prefer the umbrellas for what I do, especially for location shoots and shows. They tend to be a little more focused from the distances I shoot -- usually 10 to 12 feet from the subject. Others prefer softboxes and I do use them in the studio at shorter camera-to-subject distances but I just prefer the light quality and color I get from the silver umbrellas -- especially with black dogs which I tend to shoot a lot of. It's a personal choice and when you get a chance, you should shoot both and see what you prefer.

Jim

Thank you for your insight. What size are your umbrellas? I have 42?", 43?", somewhere in that size range. Does size matter?

Thanks again!

Quote:

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Does size matter?

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Leaving that topic for a moment, I have 2 42" silver umbrellas and a 64" AB silver parabolic reflector. I will sometimes use one of the regular umbrellas along with the PLM for fill if the location/show award area is wide -- at a National for example where I have to have enough room to shoot the winners of Stud Dog and Brood Bitch: usually 3 dogs, 3 handlers, a judge, a trophy-holder and a representative from Purina.

More is not necessarily better nor is size depending on what you are lighting and from what distance. Bigger umbrellas give you a wider area of coverage -- same with PLMs -- and you can focus the light depending on how far you mount the umbrellas/PLMs from the light source. You can do a lot of really nice lighting with one strobe, one umbrella or softbox and a reflector used as a fill source.

Jim