- Joined
- Apr 14, 2013
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- 2,677
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- India
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- www.rajarshiphotography.com
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- Photos OK to edit
Would you happen to have a sketch or photo of the setup? I guess I'm still not good enough to imagine the light positions just by listening to it, as far as I could tell the left flash was set at 45 degrees downwards and the right one straight at the subject - both through an umbrella.My guess is that you may have had your lights just a bit too far away, and perhaps too high and too far off of lens axis if I'm reading the shadows correctly.
With a two speedlight/two brolly set-up I would have probably had the lights about 3-4' away at most.
But wouldn't going so close scare the dogs? 3-4 inches is really close, how do you handle the dogs when you do it?
I would also suggest going for a 'simple' type of lighting; one light 30 degrees off of lens axis on either side, and one 1/2 to 2/3 stop above the other. This will give you a flatter lighting, but one which will accommodate dogs that don't necessarily want to follow posing instructions.
30 degrees off of the lens axis (which I'm assuming to be a straight line b/w subject & lens) - Hmm.. I'll keep try a few versions of this provided I understood it properly.. If you can find some diagram of the setup do share for more clarity.
So just a little catch-light is good.. too much is bad! - Got it!Also try and position your lights (and pose the dogs) to avoid the big 'full brolly' catchlights such as we see in the middle and right-hand dog of image #1. Because dogs don't normally have a large, white sclera the way humans do, it tends (IMO) to give them a slightly demonic look. The eyes of the middle dog in #2 are perfect.
Tell me about it, I think I spent 2 hours trying to keep the puppies on the platform and less than fifteen minutes shooting. And I was actually under the impression that I could handle it alone - ended up needing three assistantsPosing multiple dogs can be a huge challenge; I do a 'Pets with Santa' charity fund-raiser photo shoot every year for a local animal shelter and my personal best is eight of nine dogs in session actually looking at the camera! Shelter dogs are going to be especially challenging because they're likely scared, may well have been mistreated, etc, but try and minimize the distractions around them, and have an assistant directly behind you with toys, treats, etc; this will usually help to get them looking at the camera.
I was shooting in a dark room, but do you mean only one source of light from the assistant; or an extra source other than the pre-existing two. Still trying to feel my way into the world of strobes, sorry!It may help to actually shoot in a dark room and have a light on your assistant to give the dogs a point of focus.
Point notedI really like your idea with #3; great 'sob story', and #7 is a great shot; that will almost certainly get him a home! When using an assistant the way you have (a necessity with many dogs) have her look at the camera and try to engage; that too will help the 'sales pitch'.
A big big thanks to you John for taking the time to write such an elaborate answer - I'm sure this feedback will improve my next work.Overall, good job Raj, and it's a good thing you're doing!
Most importantly, apologies for such a delay I really should have responded earlier! I did see your response the day you made the post - and yet didn't have any time to respond as I was busy making rounds of hospitals for a friend who was in critical care. I have been practically living in the hospital since then; he was discharged yesterday, and here I am! Thanks for everything John..