I seriously set the stuff up, threw the kid and dog on the paper and shot off a few

Let me know how to improve these. It looks like I need a bit more fill in her face

Well, did a few others, changed the light placement around, changed the kid and dog around





Learning curve is steep, but, I will get it sooner or later

Hey Julie,

Congrats on your first attempts. I agree that the light on the first one needed to be changed around your daughter's face. The 2nd set, IMO, is greatly improved. I really like the shot with the husky dog (I am biased, LOL).

Question, what sort of mood are you trying to create with the lighting?

Cheers
James

James, I have no idea. I was just glad I was able to set it all up! I have A LOT of practicing to do. Thankfully I also have a A LOT of doggie friends to practice on. I have to be proficient and competent by November. I *think* I can get it together by then. My husband said "If you ever want another job again you better".

I think I am just going for an evenly lit type lighting. Just a nice clean, crisp look. I missed on these, but, my kitchen isn't large enough for the setup.

Oh, the husky X, he is 12 years old. Not a bit of arthritis or tartar on his teeth. He is a wonderful dog. You would really think he is between 3-5 if you met him.

I may run over to a friend's house this week. She has TONS of dogs to practice on and her living room is very large and open.

Julie,
for even lighting, I usually set up the lights at 45 degrees to the subject with both at full power. I assume you're bouncing these off of umbrellas? If not, you should to soften shadows.

When you get the lighting so that there are no shadows you don't want, you can get creative by varying the intensity of one of the lights to create a highlight/shadow area on your subjects. For pet shots, I keep the levels the same.

I also like to set my lights fairly high so that whatever shadows they do cast fall behind the subjects. Make sure both lights are firing. I'm not sure both went off on every shot that's here. If you're firing one from a pc cord and the other as a slave, make sure you don't have the plug in the slave pc socket since that will prevent it from firing.

Did you get a radio trigger for this set-up?

Jim

I used a radio trigger and I do think both went off. I did go to a friend's house, with more room and more dogs.

I moved the umbrellas up higher, dogs were on a table and I had more time to play around. I still had some minor shadow areas but I think it is better.

You are about see see tons of photos! You'll love the dobie puppy bitch. Very pretty

Humm, The kids also seem to be looking down. I think the lights are a little to high and you are to low. In all the shots the dogs are good, it's the kids that are the trouble, again since they are looking down their faces are in shadows and there are no catch lights in their eyes. Also a well placed reflector card can help the shadows. And remember the reflector isn’t always formally a reflector, just pushing them back on the white paper a little further will leave some in front of them to reflect some of the flash. Also get a shot of your setup. Even if you don’t post it here, you may want to look back and as the experimentation continues, you will soon forget all the iterations:) Looking forward to the next installment, especially the dobi!
I love the dog in the last shot. Looks like she is falling asleep and falling over backwards:)

Julie,

Can you please post a photo of your set up? I am also just starting out in studio lighting. For now I plan on using one light with a reflector.

I need to set it up again and I may do so tonight. I will get a shot of it then. Basically it is two lights set at 4 and 8 o'clock, sometimes a table, sometimes just on the ground. I am going to try some low key later today if I can find the time

I may use the child I am not photographing to hold a gold reflector toward the one in the photo's face

Awesome, Julie! My fav is the one with the husky.

Agreed, a white reflector (or maybe a light for fill above the camera) would hack outsome of the shadows, but really, they're great as-is from where I'm sitting.