Julie,
we do collages all the time and I agree, sometimes it's the only way to get them all together. A few years ago, we had somebody ask us to shoot 7 Tollers for a family shot. And I agreed .

We actually got 3 that were usable as is but we decided that for 2 of the dogs, we'd substitute heads from the other images. But we actually got them to pose and react for 6 frames. Incredible.

For my Rotties, I'd like to see the dynamic of having them all together. Annie is the dominant bitch at 11 years of age and Rowdy the 10-year-old alpha male. But I walk Rowdy and Sundance (the kid) together and Cassidy gets along with Annie pretty well. So I think we can pull this one off.

It would be easy to just set them up in the studio against a low-key background and then put them together later. But I like the challenge of getting them all in an actual shoot. Clearly, I'm into self-inflicted pain . We'll see.

I love your collages. Simple and elegant. Nicely done.

Jim

Hi Jim!
WOW! And to the rest of the world...you are just the most TOPS photographer, who just knows how to get r done!
Just smile to yourself and TG you got the perfect image!
It does amaze me, how some people have awesome dogs, with little to no manners.
Currently boarding two golden littermates(a no no for any owner of my puppies), and while they talked the good talk (convincing a friend of mine)and brought the both of them home, it is SOOO EVIDENT, that a human word, means NOTHING to them. AND I agreed to groom them as well! <sigh> what was I thinkin?
Oh yeah...$$ Hopefully one on one, they'll listen better!
VERY handsome boy! Good luck on the breeding!
We just bred Dice for hopefully(if it takes) the last time!
A pedigree I've waited 12 years to put together! Can't wait!

That's a great story Jim! And it sure did pay off! Beautiful head shot! I hope you get that group shot (and share it with us!) You have me thinking about the chroma green (is that what it is called?) backdrop. What if you had a dog with a lot of longer, flyaway hair? Does the chromagreen mask out cleanly and quickly in photoshop (all those paler greens that would be between the hairs?) or would you still have to do a lot of work to remove the background and pull out individual hairs, etc?

Julie I love your collages! Really nice how you put in the black background. I love the shot on the steps I think the one looking over the railing really makes the picture! I adore Danes, I had a wonderful fawn boy Fred (#3 obedience in the US) he was my son I loved him sooo much. But I'll never have another one, he suffered all of his 6 short years with so many horrible illnesses (including bloat) and had so many surgeries and almost lost him several times...it was too much of a heart break which is sad because they are such a great breed. I just can't go through that again. I am so sorry of hearing that you lost your boy so recently. Your Danes are really gorgeous.

Dee Dee,
I'll share the ad we just completed using some of the shots from that particular session later today.

As for the chroma, yes it's supposed to make the cutting out of the dog easier even with the fine hair on some of the "fluffy" breeds. The masking software (other than Photoshop) is also supposed to help. We've found that if you know how to feather your selections in Photoshop, you can get the same level of detail out of the hair strands but it does take a little more time. Then it's just a matter of playing around with the lighting effects if you've meshed two images together.

Julie, your Dane images must have been a portend: we got a call on Friday from a former advertising client who is backing a new Dane Special. This client is heir to the Greenberg fortune (he of the shopping mall concept) and is a wonderful person to work with. Demanding but fair and she runs a lot of advertising. Her new Special is a fawn boy and I'll be shooting him in a couple of weeks. Can't wait.

Jim

Jim - Renee Greenberg Gumbs has backed several Danes over the years. I remember CH. Erinwood Raintree Dixie Legend - I believe his call name was Tyler -- that Renee backed and showed all over the place. She came to the Waukesha KC shows in Wisconsin one year with her entourage for the Dane specialty and 4 day cluster -- 3 motor homes (one for her, one for her handler and one for her "staff". I remember she had converted some of the storage area on the motorhome for freezers that had steaks in one and lobsters in another. I don't really know her, but she's got more money than I could ever dream of having. Her staff would go around the show site in the evenings roadworking Tyler from a 4 person totally enclosed golf cart. I have some other stories that I don't really want to share on an open forum, but if you're interested, it might help you in your relations with her.

Could be a very lucrative shoot for you. Don't know if you've done any Dane work before, but if you need some tips on the best way to shoot Danes and how breeders like to have their Danes captured, I would be more than willing to give you any help I could.

Julie,
yes, we did all of Tyler's advertising. He is a very cool guy. Probably a bit too much substance for most Dane people but I always thought he was just what the breed needed in terms of type.

Renee always traveled that way but if you went inside one of those $750,000 RVs, you saw that the dogs all traveled in style and she really loves them. We'd sit and plan the ads with Tyler and one of the other Danes sitting across our laps.

For this dog, Renee specifically asked for us and we know the breeders well as well as the handler so I think we have it covered from the perspective of everyone knowing and being comfortable with each other. I've shot a lot of Dane Specialties but I'd appreciate any tips you'd like to offer.

This isn't just a shoot; it's a contracted year of advertising design as well as photography. And, yes, it will be fairly lucrative but fair. BTW, did you know that the Dane she had painted on her RV was Tyler?

Tyler and I had a good relationship when he was showing and I saw him last year at one of the Specialties and he came over to me and buried his head in my chest. He's definitely one of "my guys".

Jim

I said I'd post the ad that came from both the outdoor shoot and the "impossible" shoot and here it is. Double truck for Dog News for the New Champion.



We changed out the headshot to another in the same series at the owner's request. Handler added from another photo taken at another show; moving shot from the weekend in the rain.

Hope you like it.

Jim

Ack no I don't like it...I LOVE it!! Wow that is one sharp ad, Jim! Excellent job! The layout, colors, everything is great. So is that the same head shot as the first one you posted here (it appears to be) and did you take a fake shot of the handler to put behind him or just cut him out of another shot?

Dee Dee,
the headshot is one of those in the same series as the one I posted -- the owner wanted his head to look "bigger". It's already the size of a basketball but who am I to argue .

I had the shot of the handler from the Miami shows I shot in December so it was the same camera with the same lens at the same settings. Made it easy to just lift, clean and place.

The rest of it is Linda's design skill. And for Dog News, the cleaner the better in terms of layout and keeping the copy as tight as possible (try to convince owners to say less. Talk about impossible tasks!).

Glad you like the ad. It'll work.

BTW, be sure to watch Westminster tomorrow night to see whether our other Rottie advertising client -- Sonny -- gets to Group. He's Sundance's daddy so we'll be cheering him on.

Jim

Looks great!!! Gorgeous dog too