A Very Tough Puppy Shoot
#35439
06/10/11 05:57 PM
06/10/11 05:57 PM
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Joined: Feb 2007
Long Island, NY
Diane
OP
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Feb 2007
Long Island, NY
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Hi all. I haven't been around for a long time, but I have been lurking a bit. It's time for some critique. I was recently hired to photograph some 6-week old poodle puppies for a friend of mine. Great, I thought. I'd love to. The shoot was at her house, and I had my traveling makeshift backdrop kit. The shoot took place entirely in the room where the eight puppies lived (a converted living room) with the rest of the 6 dogs running around like a predominantly uncontrolled pack. There was no table, and I didn't bring one, so I sat on the floor, a poorly mopped, puppy mess of a floor. It was disgusting. I only shot from one vantage point, and that was that. I wasn't going to slither around the floor chasing the puppies. The woman who "assisted" me, a friend of the puppies owner, was a total moron, and I had to tell her repeatedly to get out of the shot. I did get a few rather acceptable images, one of which I am posting here. The hardest thing was getting the puppies to look up. They kept looking down to the floor to step away from the basket they were in to get out of it. Just getting an eye shot was considered a win. Your thoughts on this image. Frankly, I'm kind of happy with it, but I wish I had both eyes, and I wish the puppy was looking up. Any and all advice and critique is hugely welcome. TIA.
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Re: A Very Tough Puppy Shoot
[Re: Diane]
#35445
06/11/11 11:04 AM
06/11/11 11:04 AM
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Joined: Feb 2007
Long Island, NY
Diane
OP
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Feb 2007
Long Island, NY
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Thanks, Jims. It was a ridiculous situation, and one I will not get myself into again. I wanted to take the pups outside, but the owner said they were not vaccinated yet, so she wouldn't. The woman "helping" me, didn't understand that she was supposed to stay out of the freakin' shot. I got tired of telling her that. They kept putting the other dogs upstairs, but gee wiz!!! They kept screaming, "Who let the dogs back down??" Well, duh.......
Essentially, I just gave up, got a few shots that were acceptable, even if not by your standards, which admittedly I'm not there anyway, and blew out of there. The images are on my website, and she'll pay for those portraits. Whatever. I sure hope my next shoot will be better, and I will insist on some things. If not possible, then screw it.... I'll just leave.
Every time I do a shoot like this, I learn something new. I've also learned that aside from the great shots that you all get, which I hope to achieve some day, people don't seem to really care that much. They want shots of their beloved pets, and don't have the eye or knowledge to critique them in any meaningful way. Having said that, I refuse to make it a habit to shoot substandard images. I do have some self respect after all. :-)
Again, thanks.
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Re: A Very Tough Puppy Shoot
[Re: Jim Poor]
#35446
06/11/11 11:09 AM
06/11/11 11:09 AM
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Joined: Feb 2007
Long Island, NY
Diane
OP
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Feb 2007
Long Island, NY
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Wow, tough conditions.
......
The puppy is cute and the composition is nice for the look. I don't care for the uneven background lighting or the shadow cast from the puppy onto the background. Interesting. I didn't have a problem with the uneven background as much as with the shadow. I shot with a flash, and bounced it with a better bounce card arrangement. What are your suggestions for eliminating that shadow, absent studio lighting and using flash only? Is it even possible? I tried to shoot without the flash, and bump up the ISO, but I couldn't get enough shutter speed, and the pups were moving too fast. As you can tell, I'm in deep learning mode......
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Re: A Very Tough Puppy Shoot
[Re: Diane]
#35458
06/12/11 02:32 PM
06/12/11 02:32 PM
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Joined: Mar 2011
AR
Wagsmore
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Mar 2011
AR
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Puppies are tough. I always carry a few things with me to help. 1) Treats. Usually Nature's Balance sausage cut up into small pieces. 2) Baskets in different sizes. Putting the puppies in something to contain them makes it much easier. 3) Something colorful. Pillows, rugs, throws. Just something I can drop in to add a punch of color. 4) Off camera flash and soft box. I use the Doug Box < http://dougbox.com/shop/index.php?p=product&id=14 > but there are plenty of others out there.
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