Not really a human models...

ShepsMom

..but they are great models to practice on. I'm playing with my new flash and trying to figure it out, and getting a real studio lighting system sometime soon. :barb

These were taking with a window light and external flash.

What do you guys think?? I know i probably should have put ball or some toy next to them for composition.




I know i cut ears and a paw :cry





Thank you for looking.

Azzaro

I really liked the lighting on all 3 pictures..The second is my favorite, you captured the rich color of his coat and what a great shot of his head.
I believe a toy would have been a mistake, that dog doesn't need help.
I said he... it looks like a masculine head to me????? Azzaro......the name of a shepheard that was with me for 13 years....

dogwood

Marina:

Lovely shots but keep in mind photographing people is totally different than furry critters. Light looks differently on skin than fur and shadows too. If you're really interested in people, the best way to practice is on people. I notice even metering is different on pets (I have a cat and dog with black fur).

That said, I'm not crazy about your backdrop in these images-- it's both bold and a little school portrait looking. For pets, I think a natural background looks better and for people, I personally like either natural or paper. Your lighting looks decent in these images, but again, it's a different story when photographing people. For example, a wide lens (16 mm) may look great on a pet where a long lens generally looks better with people.

Blab blab blab... too much time on my hands tonight (actually, I'm procrastinating on some of the post work from my shoots this weekend). I'm definitely trying to be constructive here so please take it that way.

ShepsMom

Azzaro wrote:

I really liked the lighting on all 3 pictures..The second is my favorite, you captured the rich color of his coat and what a great shot of his head.
I believe a toy would have been a mistake, that dog doesn't need help.
I said he... it looks like a masculine head to me????? Azzaro......the name of a shepheard that was with me for 13 years....

Thank you Azzaro for the comment. First 2 shots are my male and last one is a female.

ShepsMom

dogwood wrote:

Marina:

Lovely shots but keep in mind photographing people is totally different than furry critters. Light looks differently on skin than fur and shadows too. If you're really interested in people, the best way to practice is on people. I notice even metering is different on pets (I have a cat and dog with black fur).

That said, I'm not crazy about your backdrop in these images-- it's both bold and a little school portrait looking. For pets, I think a natural background looks better and for people, I personally like either natural or paper. Your lighting looks decent in these images, but again, it's a different story when photographing people. For example, a wide lens (16 mm) may look great on a pet where a long lens generally looks better with people.

Blab blab blab... too much time on my hands tonight (actually, I'm procrastinating on some of the post work from my shoots this weekend). I'm definitely trying to be constructive here so please take it that way.

Thank you Pete for a good reply. I completely understand the difference between pets and humans photography. This was done out of boredome. I want to do pets as well as people, so i need practice with both. As far as backdrop, it was all i could find at that time. My biggest concern is lighting, i can always find backdrops and alll that other stuff, but lighting is what i'm trying to achieve. I will need some human volunteers at this point. But first i'll have to wait to get a studio.

Thank you again for your review.

i_worship_the_King

my 2c
I'm jealous your pets are so well behaved! My austrailian shepherds are afraid of the shutter on my camera . I get one good shot and they think they're under attack or something...


On the other side, I like the faux framing you did (assumedly) in post, it really makes the pictures pop a lot more. And as for #2, I really like the idea that you cropped (or missed?) part of the paw and the ear - it centers the focus (of my eyes anyway) on his head/face and the saturation of colors on his coat. If it was my dog I'd definitely buy a print...

~Matt

Briggie

What beautiful, majestic animals!! I really like number 2, cropped ears and paws aside. I think 3 would have been really great, had you made some noise or something to get her full attention as you took the picture. With her ears back like that, she looks annoyed (well...maybe she was!?). Nothing like a shepherd when it comes to "Sit/Staying" for portraits!!:D

I once had a GSD! Loved him!!! Ajax shared our lives for a very short 10 years, but i think i'll be hard pressed to find such a great dog again! At any rate, he set the bar pretty high!!... here's an old scan of a pic we took of him when he was young...



Geez...i hope that didn't constitute thread highjacking??...

Enjoy your puppies!!!
Brige

ShepsMom

i_worship_the_King wrote:

I'm jealous your pets are so well behaved! My austrailian shepherds are afraid of the shutter on my camera . I get one good shot and they think they're under attack or something...


On the other side, I like the faux framing you did (assumedly) in post, it really makes the pictures pop a lot more. And as for #2, I really like the idea that you cropped (or missed?) part of the paw and the ear - it centers the focus (of my eyes anyway) on his head/face and the saturation of colors on his coat. If it was my dog I'd definitely buy a print...

~Matt

Thank you Matt for your comments. They used to the camera, i take darn thing everywhere and my dogs come alone . I've put a lot of work into these dogs, trainingwise. So, i'm enjoying the results )

I actually went and bought 2 8x10, first time order from SM, will see how the come out! Can't wait!

ShepsMom

Briggie wrote:

What beautiful, majestic animals!! I really like number 2, cropped ears and paws aside. I think 3 would have been really great, had you made some noise or something to get her full attention as you took the picture. With her ears back like that, she looks annoyed (well...maybe she was!?). Nothing like a shepherd when it comes to "Sit/Staying" for portraits!!:D

I once had a GSD! Loved him!!! Ajax shared our lives for a very short 10 years, but i think i'll be hard pressed to find such a great dog again! At any rate, he set the bar pretty high!!... here's an old scan of a pic we took of him when he was young...



Geez...i hope that didn't constitute thread highjacking??...

Enjoy your puppies!!!
Brige

Thank you Brige for taking a look. GSD's are the best (in my eyes) lol Ajax looks amazing on that picture, what a handsome fella!