We all love our pets and we all like to have great photo’s of them. And I am no exception, I love taking photos of my two dogs Bruce and Lulu. Unfortunately when they see the camera come out they sheepishly disappear and I usually find them sitting under my husband’s desk hiding behind his legs or if he’s sitting in his arm chair they are cuddled up on his lap. As with any shoot involving pets and children, or even husbands for that matter – you have to go to great lengths to get everything in place before they are required for their part. I set up the scene, ensure there are no creases in any fabrics, that everything is clean and that there is nothing intruding on the set (no chewed up dog toys in the background or any hanging cobwebs). I set up the tripod at the distance and height that I think I want to shoot at and taking into account the lighting, I make the necessary adjustments to my camera settings. Then I take a test photograph and check it out on the viewfinder. From there I can adjust for light, depth of field and focus points – all without the subjects. So when I am ready I entice the little munchkins with treats and they immediately forget what they are hiding from and they come running. I give them a quick smooth over with my hands, adjust any costumes or clothing and try to place them where I want. The trick of course is to get to my camera and make any adjustments to focus and take the shot before they move or find something more interesting than me to look at, or just simply run away. Our Easter shoot took about an hour of actual shoot time and eventually I got a fairly decent image. I have also included the outtakes from this session and you will see what I mean. One dog couldn’t help himself and kept shaking his head and his ears kept slipping off while the other one kept moving her head and the hood tended to cover her face up … and of course we must have run over into ear cleaning time because that had to happen. Since this shoot I have invested in a digital remote so I can now stand just out of the shot but still be close enough to keep them in line while triggering the camera’s shutter. It is a true blessing for photographing pets!
