Question for pet portaits?

[cgipson1]

Loving the second shot... that your cat? What breed is he/she?

Koko is a F4 (fourth gen) Savannah (Exotic Hybrid - Mixture of African Serval and Domestic Feline). He is just over a year old, and about 16 lbs. Loves to play fetch... and will try his darnedest to tackle you and take you down (in play!)

 

[blackrose89]

Charlie, what is your cat sitting on in #2? Like the blue underneath. Is that something he's sitting on or PS?

 

[vtf]

My first session with someone else' dogs, they were very well controlled but still a challenge.

 

[cgipson1]

Charlie, what is your cat sitting on in #2? Like the blue underneath. Is that something he's sitting on or PS?

I had draped the coffee table in a blue rayon based crushed velvet material.. that I can't remember the name of. I have it in several different colors.. it is cheap compared to the real thing.

 

[cgipson1]

My first session with someone else' dogs, they were very well controlled but still a challenge.

It can be an adventure! lol! I was charged by a subject (VERY LARGE Bull mastiff) when shooting him.. and he knocked me on my butt! Luckily I managed to keep the camera / lens safe... although I got a very thorough face washing! lol!

 

[blackrose89]

My first session with someone else' dogs, they were very well controlled but still a challenge.

It can be an adventure! lol! I was charged by a subject (VERY LARGE Bull mastiff) when shooting him.. and he knocked me on my butt! Luckily I managed to keep the camera / lens safe... although I got a very thorough face washing! lol!

I really enjoy shooting my pets. If I were to ever in the future try to run a photography busniess for myself I would be more interested in pet portraits. Babies, pregnant women and weddings really don't interest me. My cousin wants me shoot her Doberman and horse. I'm obviously not charging for photo sessions right now. Just trying to get an idea of where to shoot.

I've been doing some research online and almost all of them say to use natural light outside or by a window for pets. Seems some people here would disagree.

 

[cgipson1]

My first session with someone else' dogs, they were very well controlled but still a challenge.

It can be an adventure! lol! I was charged by a subject (VERY LARGE Bull mastiff) when shooting him.. and he knocked me on my butt! Luckily I managed to keep the camera / lens safe... although I got a very thorough face washing! lol!

I really enjoy shooting my pets. If I were to ever in the future try to run a photography busniess for myself I would be more interested in pet portraits. Babies, pregnant women and weddings really don't interest me. My cousin wants me shoot her Doberman and horse. I'm obviously not charging for photo sessions right now. Just trying to get an idea of where to shoot.

I've been doing some research online and almost all of them say to use natural light outside or by a window for pets. Seems some people here would disagree.

You only have good light for a couple of hours per day.. if you shoot only natural light. If you supplement that with flash.. you can shoot almost anytime of the day.

 

[kundalini]

I'm glad you posted this thread...I'm looking to volunteer at the Humane Society to take pictures for them. Better Pictures = Higher Adoption Rate. My biggest concern with it is the lighting. I don't have any studio equipment at all and I don't want to mess it all up for them either.

This can be a very rewarding adventure and can certainly tug on the heart strings quite a bit. I used to volunteer at my local animal shelter. Most of the photos of the animals the shelter had on their website were piss poor to say the least. I didn't just fire away from the other side of the gate. I would get inside the run and spend some quality time with the (mostly large) dogs because most of the other volunteer photogs were leary of them. I can think of only one dog that was ever slightly aggressive towards me in the beginning. After staying in the run for a while with her, she finally let me give her a pat. I usually spent 15-20 minutes with each animal so my average per night was lower than most. However, I think I was able to catch some of their personalities and the foot traffic did increase.

I wouldn't worry too much about not having studio equipment. I usually just used my speedlight and reverse fired it, bouncing off a wall. Being in such tight quarters, flashing directly was not attractive. Focus should always be on their eyes.

There are just too many to choose from, so I'll stop now.



Oh wait, one more........

 

[Overread18 6]

One tip I read about animal shelter photography was that rehoming boosted a lot when the animals were brought out of the cage and instead presented in a more normal home environment. That is to say take them outside for a shot on the grass or use a chair or other props to simulate a "home" shot.
The visual sight of the animal in a nice environment actually led to more rehoming than those heartstring pulling ones of big sad looking eyes (people feel sorry for those animals, but they then go and take the one with the nice, sweet looking photo home).

 

[jmtonkin]

I'm glad you posted this thread...I'm looking to volunteer at the Humane Society to take pictures for them. Better Pictures = Higher Adoption Rate. My biggest concern with it is the lighting. I don't have any studio equipment at all and I don't want to mess it all up for them either.

This can be a very rewarding adventure and can certainly tug on the heart strings quite a bit. I used to volunteer at my local animal shelter. Most of the photos of the animals the shelter had on their website were piss poor to say the least. I didn't just fire away from the other side of the gate. I would get inside the run and spend some quality time with the (mostly large) dogs because most of the other volunteer photogs were leary of them. I can think of only one dog that was ever slightly aggressive towards me in the beginning. After staying in the run for a while with her, she finally let me give her a pat. I usually spent 15-20 minutes with each animal so my average per night was lower than most. However, I think I was able to catch some of their personalities and the foot traffic did increase.

I wouldn't worry too much about not having studio equipment. I usually just used my speedlight and reverse fired it, bouncing off a wall. Being in such tight quarters, flashing directly was not attractive. Focus should always be on their eyes.

I love it! After looking through their current photos, I'm not too worried about what I can achieve. The part that concerns me now, is that I do not have a speed light. In time, A.K.A. once I get my taxes...I really like your suggestion to get to "know" the animal while you're taking their pictures. I volunteer there as it is, so I'm used to working with them. I'm probably going to go in there on Thursday or Saturday to take some shots for them.

 

[jmtonkin]

This is what really got me wanting to do this:

Pet photographer's ambitious adoption photos - CBS News Video

 

[kundalini]

One tip I read about animal shelter photography was that rehoming boosted a lot when the animals were brought out of the cage and instead presented in a more normal home environment. That is to say take them outside for a shot on the grass or use a chair or other props to simulate a "home" shot.
The visual sight of the animal in a nice environment actually led to more rehoming than those heartstring pulling ones of big sad looking eyes (people feel sorry for those animals, but they then go and take the one with the nice, sweet looking photo home).

This is very true and if the link jmtonkin provided is the report that I've seen (work is blocking) it is the best practice. However, the shelter that I was at many times had a air bourne infection warning going on and animal transfers were not allowed in order to reduce the potential of infecting the remaining residents. The outdoor facility they did have was nothing to write home about either as far as asthetics are concerned. The shelter was county government operated, could not refuse an animal of any kind and because of that, was a kill shelter.

 

[Redeyejedi]

great thread, thanks to all who posted and provided good info. :thumbup:

 

[Overread18 6]

kundalini - yep I'm pretty sure its the same report your thinking it is.
Also great to see the huskies in your pics - so so many of them end up in shelters

 

[Ron Evers]

.. although I got a very thorough face washing! lol!

Yuck!

Teasers would not work with Cricket, she is far too much a lady to be caught playing. However, If I want her to look @ me, I just have to take in a deep breath like I am about to sneeze.