NWPBanner
Welcome! NWPphotoforum.com
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4
Is this acceptable??? #33032
12/25/10 04:10 PM
12/25/10 04:10 PM
Joined: Feb 2007
Long Island, NY
Diane Offline OP
Journeyman
Diane  Offline OP
Journeyman

Joined: Feb 2007
Long Island, NY
Hello all. I've been a member of this forum for some time, but have not posted since ..... well, a long time. However, I've recently agreed to photograph some dogs for MONEY!!! In fact, I am now breaking into the photography business, wherein my day job is a landscape architect for the National Park Service (retiring as soon as I can) ..... anyway..... The photo.....

I was asked to shoot in her house, as I do not have a studio. I took this shot, which I think is quite good of the dogs, but the door, furniture, and blue storage tub were unacceptable additions. And, these dogs were so poorly trained, that every shot was a grab shot. There was no posing going on here. The image can be found here, along with a few others:

http://www.dustydogdigital.com/Pets/Pets/4194759_wG8Ax#1134961203_SMzXp-A-LB

So, I masked out everything but the dogs, and put them onto a layer of blended nothing. I think it looks decent, and the customer loves it. But, is it acceptable in the big, wide world of professional pet photography? Do others here do this? Your thoughts and advice would be wonderful. Thanks!

p.s. I am going to continue to do this as long as my customer base wants it. Ideally, I'm looking for a studio to rent or share. That's coming soon....

Re: Is this acceptable??? [Re: Diane] #33033
12/25/10 10:28 PM
12/25/10 10:28 PM
Joined: Jul 2009
Connecticut
Sunstruck Offline
Old hand
Sunstruck  Offline
Old hand

Joined: Jul 2009
Connecticut
The photo is nice Diane. I would suggest that you invest in some muslin backdrops, blankets, or table cloths to use as a background. You don't need to invest in a lot of equipment. A backdrop stand, a couple of backdrops, and if you are going for the studio look, some strobes.

I do what you are starting to. I go to peoples' homes and take portraits of their dogs and cats. If you don't have room to set up the stands, just throw the backdrop over a couch, chair, etc. I found a bed works great, throw the backdrop over the headboard, or even set the backdrop stands on either side of the bed.

Lots of luck, your photos are nice.


Penny J. Wills
[color:"#08c3c5"]www.pennyjwillsphotography.com[/color]
Re: Is this acceptable??? [Re: Sunstruck] #33034
12/26/10 09:59 AM
12/26/10 09:59 AM
Joined: Feb 2005
Manhattan, New York, New York
James Morrissey Offline
I
James Morrissey  Offline
I
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Feb 2005
Manhattan, New York, New York
Hey Diane,

I am going to wait until i get home and see this on my monitor. It is color calivrated and my ipad is not. I THINK it looks pretty good though.

FYI, I also do what you are doing. Living in Manhattan, it is pretty impractical for me to dedicate my living room into a studio and I have been able to get by just fine. As Penny says, backdrops are good and cheap. When we first started, a lot of stuff we purchased came from fabric stores.

Now we bring an entire portable studio into everyone's home. It kind of blows their minds when I come in.

James

Re: Is this acceptable??? [Re: James Morrissey] #33035
12/26/10 10:27 AM
12/26/10 10:27 AM
Joined: Jun 2005
TN
Julie Offline
Addict
Julie  Offline
Addict

Joined: Jun 2005
TN
The photo of the dogs look fine, I am not a huge fan of the digital background as it looks like, a digital background. If you are going to do this for money, you will find most dogs are NOT trained, do not sit still and will not cooperate. It will be your job to know how to deal with it.

I am busy because I deal with all kinds of dogs, not just trained ones. The ones who sit still are a real rarity

Re: Is this acceptable??? [Re: Julie] #33036
12/26/10 10:52 AM
12/26/10 10:52 AM
Joined: Feb 2007
Long Island, NY
Diane Offline OP
Journeyman
Diane  Offline OP
Journeyman

Joined: Feb 2007
Long Island, NY
Yeah, that's the problem. Digital backgrounds look like digital backgrounds, even if the dogs look good. I've found that when some people don't know better, they think it's great. But, cashing in on that seems rather cheesy. I will invest in some backdrops when I get back from Uganda (another story...). I've seen what some people post, and they make all the difference in the world. Is there a listing of what goes into a traveling studio on this site? I'd imagine backdrops and lighting would be the basics. But, money will be key, and right now, I think I may have to stick with a flash.

Thanks so much. You're all great, and now that I'm actually taking this leap towards professionalism, you'll likely see me around here a lot more. :-)

Re: Is this acceptable??? [Re: Diane] #33037
12/26/10 10:58 AM
12/26/10 10:58 AM
Joined: Feb 2007
Long Island, NY
Diane Offline OP
Journeyman
Diane  Offline OP
Journeyman

Joined: Feb 2007
Long Island, NY
In addition, as for dealing with untrained dogs, any tricks. I brought along some treats, but my last customer wanted shots of the dogs with their mouths open and "smiling". I told her that as long as treats are around, and they're in smelling mode, their mouths will be closed, so withhold the treats. But, of course, the dogs then went kind of nuts. There were six of them, and pack mentality prevailed. We separated them, but for goddess' sake, it was insane....

Shooting dogs professionally is really a challenge. Fact is, I love dogs. They are amazing animals.

Re: Is this acceptable??? [Re: Diane] #33038
12/26/10 11:15 AM
12/26/10 11:15 AM
Joined: Jul 2009
Connecticut
Sunstruck Offline
Old hand
Sunstruck  Offline
Old hand

Joined: Jul 2009
Connecticut
Hi Diane,

With the booking of a session, I email out a list of things the owners "should" do before I arrive. One of the things is to take their dogs for a long, long walk ( or run) before I show up. I find a lot of home dogs do not get enough time out side or socializing. A long walk or some serious play time before showing up goes a long way towards getting the edge off the dogs.


Penny J. Wills
[color:"#08c3c5"]www.pennyjwillsphotography.com[/color]
Re: Is this acceptable??? [Re: Diane] #33039
12/26/10 11:45 AM
12/26/10 11:45 AM
Joined: Mar 2005
Florida
Jim Garvie Offline
Addict
Jim Garvie  Offline
Addict

Joined: Mar 2005
Florida
Diane,
I think the final image is very nice. You can do a lot of "fixing" in post-processing but the objective is to minimize the amount you HAVE to do. Which means bringing enough stuff with you to build a backdrop on location.

With pets, we have always found that going to the owners' homes works out better than bringing the pets into our studio. The exception being -- for us -- if the pets are puppies we've bred because when we have litters, we set up the whelping box in the studio and that's where they spend the first 8 weeks of their lives.

Because I shoot dog shows, my setup has been put together for maximum portability. Whether I'm setting it up at a Fairgrounds or in someone's living room, it really doesn't matter. A light-weight backdrop stand, a 12-foot pole and lots of muslin backdrops along with 2 AB 400's and I'm good whether it's here in the studio or anywhere else in the country. So, like Penny and James, I suggest you invest the in the backdrop stand and find a couple of basic backdrops. Over time, you can just shop the fabric bins at Michaels or JoAnne's to find stuff that works equally well.

As I said, having studio space is fine but for pets, going on location is usually better in my experience. Lots depends on how well-trained the pets are but generally-speaking, they will be more comfortable in their own environment.

Jim


Jim Garvie
www.jagphoto.biz
Re: Is this acceptable??? [Re: Jim Garvie] #33040
12/26/10 01:15 PM
12/26/10 01:15 PM
Joined: Jun 2005
TN
Julie Offline
Addict
Julie  Offline
Addict

Joined: Jun 2005
TN
I have better luck at my studio, because I have everything set up and ready to go. I don't really have issues with the badly behaved ones, as I just put a show lead on them and photoshop them out

If I was going to go to people's homes, I'd use a very shallow dof and use a more lifestyle approach vs posed portraits.

Re: Is this acceptable??? [Re: Julie] #33041
12/26/10 02:09 PM
12/26/10 02:09 PM
Joined: Mar 2005
Florida
Jim Garvie Offline
Addict
Jim Garvie  Offline
Addict

Joined: Mar 2005
Florida
Quote:

If I was going to go to people's homes, I'd use a very shallow dof and use a more lifestyle approach vs posed portraits.




I think that depends on what the client expects. If they have a great location, then lifestyle is fine. But here in Orlando -- and I'm sure with James in NYC -- you often find yourself in an apartment with not much ambiance. So, I bring my portrait stuff and can do whatever is going to work at that particular location.

The key to me is that I've set up my entire business to be mobile so it's not a hassel for me to pack it up and unpack it. That approach works great for pet portraits or corporate portraits which I do a fair amount of. You set up in the Board room and you can get the officers when they have a free moment or two instead of having to drag them down to my studio and waste their time in traveling to and from.

I love doing studio shoots because of the control factor. It's just that my "studio" can be wherever I set it up.

Jim


Jim Garvie
www.jagphoto.biz
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4

Who's Online Now
0 registered members (), 350 guests, and 2 spiders.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
CTiefisher, DrSuse BlueDevil, airphotog, dwilson7878, carters paul
3317 Registered Users
Forum Statistics
Forums6
Topics627
Posts989
Members3,317
Most Online629
Dec 4th, 2019

Copyright 2005 - 2020 Nature, Wildlife, and Pet Photography Forum. "NWPPhotoforum" and "nwpphotoforum.com" are the property of Nature, Wildlife, and Pet Photography Forum. All Rights Reserved. Wild Coyote Studio, New York Pet Photographer

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.1
(Release build 20190129)
PHP: 5.6.40-1+hw4 Page Time: 0.032s Queries: 16 (0.004s) Memory: 0.9694 MB (Peak: 1.9681 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-28 21:42:43 UTC