Shot another dog tonight...

Stradawhovious · Apr 5, 2016

His name is Chief. He's a handsome chap for sure.

I took my gear to his place, and learned a valuable lesson in space.

You need some of it if you want to use studio lighting.

Anywhoo, I did the best I could with what I got, and my only regret is not having enough space to get some full body shots of this guy. I worked it out with his human to come to my place when it's a touch warmer and we can set up in my... er... "studio" where we will have some more room. Lighting for a black dog proved to be quite a challenge... and this boy is really quite black. Lots of fun, and I learned a ton.

Feel free to pick nits, unless you are the current resident troll, whose input will be largely disregarded.

1.

2.

Not happy with how the right side gt washed out on this one, but it's not too bad... I don't think. I think my problem here was overexposing the background by about a stop too much.

3.

Yeah, I know, black dog, black background... I had to give it a try.

Your input is greatly appreciated.

spiralout462 · Apr 5, 2016

His bandana is awesome! Nice work.

tirediron · Apr 5, 2016

Hmmm... to be honest, I'm not sure these are your best work. The white backgrounds show flare, blown areas and excess specularity. The black background would have worked much better if you'd ironed the background!

Stradawhovious · Apr 5, 2016

tirediron said:
Hmmm... to be honest, I'm not sure these are your best work. The white backgrounds show flare, blown areas and excess specularity. The black background would have worked much better if you'd ironed the background!

I totally agree with you about the white backgrounds. I wish I had more room to manuver The light around, but it's most likely a product of my not paying attention to metering. Everything was metered the way I wanted it, then I moved the lights without rechecking. Rookie mistake.

The black background was crumpled on purpose, part of tonight's experiment. I honestly kind of like it, but it's not the best fit with a black subject for sure.

To be honest the whole thing was kind of a test, and thankfully I learned a bunch. Chief's human will be happy to have the shots and I can revisit them at a later date, hopefully avoiding some of the mistakes you pointed out.

gsgary · Apr 6, 2016

Black dog black background is easy but the dog is too close to the background and light is spilling on the crumpled background

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Tim Tucker · Apr 6, 2016

The second one reminds me of Dean Martin.

Stradawhovious · Apr 6, 2016

gsgary said:
Black dog black background is easy but the dog is too close to the background and light is spilling on the crumpled background

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Yep. Cramped conditions for sure, although I did want the crumpled background to appear, well, crumpled. In hindsight that doesn't seem too popular.

OGsPhotography · Apr 6, 2016

I really like the expression in #2.

Did you light the background with one or two lights?
I don't really see problems with the edges, I'll have to take a look ona different screen. Im just peeking in my phone.

#1 bottom right you can see fabric, that could be dodged IMO, just to give a more refined, high key, clean look.

If you could get something ( the owner) reflected in the glasses, that would be awesome, maybe a bit cheesey but awesome anyway.

Really nice set! I cant wait to see more once your " studio" heats up.

Stradawhovious · Apr 6, 2016

OGsPhotography said:
I really like the expression in #2.

Yeah, We got lucky with that one for sure.

OGsPhotography said:
Did you light the background with one or two lights?
I don't really see problems with the edges, I'll have to take a look ona different screen. Im just peeking in my phone.

The black background, I relied on spill from the key and fill to give a bit of light on it. Normally with a black background I'd try to avoid that, but I was going for the "crumpled" look which I now see isn't terribly popular. The white background was lit with only one light from the left of the frame, which is why in the pic with the hat you see so many problems on that side.

OGsPhotography said:
#1 bottom right you can see fabric, that could be dodged IMO, just to give a more refined, high key, clean look.

Good call.

OGsPhotography said:
If you could get something ( the owner) reflected in the glasses, that would be awesome, maybe a bit cheesey but awesome anyway.

I hear what you're saying, but honestly I'd like to keep people out of these photos. For now I will settle for the reflection of the edge of my backdrop. [sigh]

OGsPhotography said:
Really nice set! I cant wait to see more once your " studio" heats up.

Thanks! Neither can I. Although I see a lot of positives in the pics I got last night, there are some very obvious things I need to work on. I will consider this a "one step back" moment, and really look forward to shooting another dog.

tirediron · Apr 6, 2016

Stradawhovious said:
... I will consider this a "one step back" moment, and really look forward to shooting another dog.

Mehhh... not a step back, rather consider it yet another shoot where you learned something. Bear in mind that the comments here are all from photographers; people who understand light control, NOT dog owners who are in love with the subject of the photos.

Stradawhovious · Apr 6, 2016

tirediron said:
Mehhh... not a step back, rather consider it yet another shoot where you learned something.

Don't think that this statement was made in frustration. I understand that there is a learning curve with all this, and view this step back as a learning experience and nothing more. I'm raring to get back out there and take two steps forward.

tirediron said:
Bear in mind that the comments here are all from photographers; people who understand light control, NOT dog owners who are in love with the subject of the photos.

I count on that. If this was a forum full of dog owners that replied to these photos emotionally rather than critically and technically, I wouldn't learn anything. I absolutely appreciate and expect your honest criticisms, and will use them as a learning tool!

Gary A. · Apr 6, 2016

Great captures of expression and well done on the costume(s). See above for critique. Shooting a black dog against a white or black background is somewhat problematic. You did succeed with the primary objective, that of exposing for your subject ... So now is time to conquer your secondary objective, background. My nit is that you cut off the feet. It's okay to cut off appendages, just try to avoid cutting them off at a joint and cut them off where it is obvious that the cut is intentional. (I know cramped quarters.)

Photography is a craft, you improve your skill set based upon your experience. The more experiences the better you get. So that this experience and put it in the bank, it is valuable.

Stradawhovious · Apr 6, 2016

Gary A. said:
Great captures of expression and well done on the costume(s). See above for critique. Shooting a black dog against a white or black background is somewhat problematic. You did succeed with the primary objective, that of exposing for your subject ... So now is time to conquer your secondary objective, background. My nit is that you cut off the feet. It's okay to cut off appendages, just try to avoid cutting them off at a joint and cut them off where it is obvious that the cut is intentional. (I know cramped quarters.)

Photography is a craft, you improve your skill set based upon your experience. The more experiences the better you get. So that this experience and put it in the bank, it is valuable.

Thank you!

After looking at that photo a bunch more, I agree a crop could do it some good. I just didn't want them all to end up being headshots. And you're right, this experience IS valuable. If you (I) don't find the things you need to improve on, you (I) don't get better.

As much as this dog's human likes these photos, I've talked him into a re-shoot... shouldn't be tough to schedule, and it doesn't hurt that we've been friends for almost 20 years.