pig pictures?

Elaine

I've been "hired" to do a shoot of some farm pigs tomorrow! :huh Some friends own a pig farm and the wife wants me to get a nice shot of a pig and/or pigs and photoshop in a favorite saying of her husband's to make a nice framed shot for his birthday. Any tips or ideas on how to get a nice piggy shot?? I'm picturing getting at eye level and trying to get a near one in focus with a bunch of others behind it OOF. I'm not sure if I'll need to actually get IN the pig pen for this or not?! :rofl Any ideas??

Zanotti

Just ask one of them to "Ham" it up!

Joemess

Elaine wrote:

I've been "hired" to do a shoot of some farm pigs tomorrow! Some friends own a pig farm and the wife wants me to get a nice shot of a pig and/or pigs and photoshop in a favorite saying of her husband's to make a nice framed shot for his birthday. Any tips or ideas on how to get a nice piggy shot?? I'm picturing getting at eye level and trying to get a near one in focus with a bunch of others behind it OOF. I'm not sure if I'll need to actually get IN the pig pen for this or not?! Any ideas??

Aw get in the pen, you will get a more unique shot. Just take lots of shots, but don;t go into is looking for a particular angle or look be open to what develops. Take some shots then to change the mood, get her to throw some feed out. (just don't be between the piggies and the food..unless you want a REALLY unique shot) Just spend some time with them and take lots and lots of exposures.

ivar

Some inspiration:

http://www.marktucker.com/r_jackdaniels02/source/piglet.html
http://www.marktucker.com/r07d_life/source/3.html

Elaine

Hey, thanks! These are great suggestions...I'm planning to bring an extra set of clothing to go home in, just in case! Those shots from Mark Tucker are fabulous...into my bookmarks they go!

JohnDC

Yeah, get down and go whole hog--always better than the shots from fence height. If you have a good wide angle, curious pigs lend themselves to those big snout shots. (Say that fast three times without it coming out gross.)

kdog

JohnDC wrote:

Yeah, get down and go whole hog--always better than the shots from fence height. If you have a good wide angle, curious pigs lend themselves to those big snout shots. (Say that fast three times without it coming out gross.)

Took the words right out of my mouth.

I tried to do that here at a 22mm focal length.


You can go even wider, but then you have to get extremely close to your subject. :uhoh

-joel

wyndham

Thanks for the intro to Mark Tucker's work, it has a style that I love but that's almost impossible to get with colour. Here's a porcine pic I took a while ago without getting too dirty although I did worry that the subject was going to take exception to me waving the camera virtually up his nose....

caroline

ivar wrote:

Some inspiration:

http://www.marktucker.com/r_jackdaniels02/source/piglet.html
http://www.marktucker.com/r07d_life/source/3.html

Thank you for sharing these links - just wonderful and inspirational:D

Caroline

Ric Grupe

Elaine.....do not get into the pen.....unless you have someone with you and are sure of your safety. Hopping into a pig pen can be dangerous.

Good luck!

ShepsMom

Ohhh this is too funny Elaine!! What a request. I'm sure you'll do just fine!! Ok, so i'm trying to figure out here, is she comparing her DH with a pig?? LMAO!! What part?? Don't forget to wear boots and share your glamour shots later

raptorcaptor

Good luck with your pig shoot!

Elaine

ShepsMom wrote:

Ohhh this is too funny Elaine!! What a request. I'm sure you'll do just fine!! Ok, so i'm trying to figure out here, is she comparing her DH with a pig?? LMAO!! What part?? Don't forget to wear boots and share your glamour shots later

Hah! No, she's not comparing her husband to a pig. Her husband's least favorite part of their farm is the pig business, and his favorite saying is "Smooth seas do not make strong sailors" (or something like that). She wants a pig picture with that saying written on it so she can frame that for his workshop to provide him some encouragement when the going gets tough!

This shoot was hard!!! It was hot and bright outside, so the piggies wanted to stay in the shade, so the light was tricky. And, pigs tend to pitch their ears forward to shade their face and eyes, so harsh shadows were a problem. I took a ton of shots, and ended up with just 3 or 4 that I liked. I'll post them in another thread. Oh, and I didn't need to get into the pens. The fences were low and had wide open spaces. Although, my favorites came from walking around in a large pasture where they were just roaming, but they didn't pay us much mind, and I wasn't alone.