Prepping for Pet Portraits

[cueball]

My wife and I take our newest canine family member to our local Vet every Saturday for an hour long play time session with a bunch of other dogs. I always bring my camera along and take pics of the dogs playing together but just recently decided to make a group on my Flickr account and start inviting some of the owners there to come and see them. I handed out discs of some of the pics I've taken at last Saturday's session and now they have requested that I set up an Easter shoot at the vet in the beginning of April for people to come get portraits of their dogs.

Since my wife is the avid lover of animals that she is I have been told that this is a worthy cause and have been given the go ahead to purchase my first set of studio lights. I have decided on getting the Calumet Genesis 200 2-light kit for $369.00 from calumetphoto.com. I also think I will be getting the Savage Port-a-Stand system from B&H for $109.95. Based on everything I've read so far this should be a pretty good start.

My real question is whether anyone has any recommendations for an Easter themed background. Any money made from this will go to either the Humane Society or another animal related charity so it doesn't need to be anything too crazy or expensive.

I want to clarify for people that I am not by any means a pro photographer and have made that fact very clear to the Vet and member's of the playgroup but nevertheless they are happy with what they have seen so far so I thought this would be a nice way to do something charitable for animals in need, justify getting my first studio gear (My wife was actually going to get me the light's for Valentine's Day anyways), and get some much needed experience. Thank you in advance for your advice and comments.

[Rellik]

Maybe use some props instead of finding a background which might be a bit hard. Or add a frame after in PS.

Also the paper isn't going to last long with pets, so make sure you have some covering on the floor, maybe a carpet of some sort. I'm thinking if you use a sheet of acrylic, it might be too slippery.

[cueball]

Yeah I was thinking of going the prop route. For the smaller dogs and/or cats I figured I could get away with a large size easter basket of some sort surrounded by plastic eggs or something to sit the dogs in. That's not really an option for the bigger dogs though so I have to come up with something else for them.

[Rudi]

Sometimes including the owners with the dog distracts the viewer from the plain background... :)

http://rudiphoto.zenfolio.com/img/v4/p376544002.jpg

I am not a big fan of themed backgrounds, they all look tacky to me. A simple background that compliments the pet is probably best.

http://rudiphoto.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p781815414.jpg

http://rudiphoto.zenfolio.com/img/v5/p138366419.jpg

But to me the pets are the stars of the show, and they always steal the show. As long as the background is not distracting, and you get the right expression, I think that people will be happy with the results!

http://rudiphoto.zenfolio.com/img/v4/p666539411.jpg

Good luck! Please post the results when you're done, I'd love to see them! (And I'm sure I'm not alone!)

[cueball]

Those are absolutely fantastic shots Rudi! If you don't mind my asking what was your light setup for the these? I like the simplicity of the background in them. I'm meeting with the Vet on Saturday during the playgroup so I think I will talk to them about trying something simple rather than complicated/themed. Thank you for the examples.

[Rudi]

The first and the last are simple 2:1 ratio (key one stop higher than fill), no background lights. Key was a 135cm Octa at camera right, fill was 100cm square Rotalux softbox, camera left. SImple, soft light that is safe for just about anything. I didn't know what I was going to get (was shooting at a Pet Expo, so the subjects weren't exactly cooperative :D). I think someone stepped in front of my key light in #4, and blocked some of the light. Still came out OK though.

Images #2 and #3 are simple one light with reflector, the only difference is that I used a blue-gelled background light in #2, and a blue background (too lazy to use a light that time) for #3. Incidentally, that is the same dog, before and after a haircut. :)

[cueball]

He's got that pose down pat. The last one is by far my favorite though, you caught them both at a perfect moment. Thank you for the info.

[Rudi]

You're welcome cueball. :)

[cueball]

I went to your sight and had a look at your portfolio. You have got a lot of really stunning images in there. About how far away from Canberra are you? I spent a week there last year for work and had a blast. Got a little too crazy with my co-workers but it was a lot of fun nevertheless. I was disappointed that we didn't get to go out and see any koala's or kangaroo's though (I apologize if that makes me sound like a stereotypical American tourist).

[RPCrowe]

Here is my setup for small dogs....

The overhead light is bounced into a white umbrella while the fill light is bounced into a silver umbrella.

See more explanstions in a subsequent post below.

[Rudi]

I went to your sight and had a look at your portfolio. You have got a lot of really stunning images in there. About how far away from Canberra are you? I spent a week there last year for work and had a blast. Got a little too crazy with my co-workers but it was a lot of fun nevertheless. I was disappointed that we didn't get to go out and see any koala's or kangaroo's though (I apologize if that makes me sound like a stereotypical American tourist).

I'm about 2 hrs 45 min drive from Canberra, on the coast, south of Sydney. And unfortunately the fist kangaroo most tourists see is roadkill. :(

[FOTOGIRL73]

Hi, I am a portrait photographer, and am seriously thinking of starting up with pet portraits. I have a question....... I have never seen anyone use a unbrella as a hair light and than a unbrella right in front like that...... I usually use one light to the side at an angle, and than one next to the camera..... is there a reason for this? You don't get hot spots on the animals fromt he overhead? Also........ do you do wireless transmitters or powerpak? I want to do on location in homes... and do compact lighting....... am wondering if I should do a one light set up, and simply rig up a small pvc pip for a boom arm and stand and put a reflector on, and use natural lighting near a window. Ever do that? Let me know what you think. Also, what would you recommend for a good width and height for a back drop stand? I am thinking of doing pvc piping for backdrop and boom simply because I think it would be more stable, and an animal would not knock it over compared to backdrop stands, also would be easy to break down, and cheap! Let me know what you think, and please advise. What do you use for a backdrop stand? Very nice shot by the way!

[RPCrowe]

I am referring to the images I posted above.

This is the setup that I use for small dog shooting. It is a pair of old White Lightning 5000 "coffee-can" strobes bounced into a pair of umbrellas. The overhead umbrella is 42" white and the umbrella at the camera is 36" silver. The white umbrella gives nicely diffused lighting while the silver umbrella highlights the coat of the dog.

I have more sophisticated lights but, I like the quality I attain from these old WL units for which I paid $50 each, used, twenty years ago and have been using flawlessly since. Just like the Energizer Bunny, these units "keep going and going!"

The background stand is made from 1" PVC piping and can easily be disassembled for storage. The crossbar can be of different lengths to accomodate wider backgrounds. The size and height of the BG depends on the size and height of the dog. In my shots, I was using a length of black velvet about 42" wide (that's the width it came in) and two yards long. A canvas BG of 6-8' wide would work for larger dogs. You can also adjust the height of the BG stand,

For a larger dog, I would use the BG alone without the table and the dog would be on the floor. I sit in a roll around office chair which places me at a good vantage point.

I will either use a canvas BG or a length of suitable material from a yardage store. Often, upholstery supply outlets will have fabric remnants at great prices. I don't like muslin for this type of shooting because you can see the wrinkles making it look like the dog is standing on an unmade bed.

I fire the strobes using a Chinese-made, Yin-Yang, infrared trigger for which I paid $20 and which I have been using for years. They will fire any strobe which has a built-in optical slave which most studio strobes have.

I like the focal range of my 24-70L but, just about any medium-range zoom would do fine. I have shot dogs with a 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens and now usually employ my 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens. A prime would also be OK if you have room to zoom with your feet. One thing that I would avoid is using too wide a lens which will usually result in the dog's nose looking artificially elongated. BTW: there is no problem with "glowing eyes" when your flash is of-camera.

I have a flash meter but, it is easy to calculate the exposure by doing several shots at various f/stops. I use a stuffed animal as a stand-in for the dogs so I don't have to fiddle around calculating exposure when the dog is ready to be photographed.

I like a softbox or umbrella overhead for lighting a pet and have not experienced hotspots, even when shooting a white dog like Joey. The closer the umbrella or softbox is to the subject; the softer and more even the lighting. I my garage studio, I will use a 36'x48" Chimera softbox into which I fire a 400 WS Sunpak monolight. This is especially good for larger dogs but, the softbox and large strobe is difficult to carry around and set up on location.

Somewhere around the end of January or February, all the hobby supply stores (our local store is Michael's) start coming out with Easter decorations. Nice artificial flowers or an Easter basket would be a good theme for your photos.

[DerekW]

I agree about cheezy themed sets.... BUT, I also understand dog owners are totally nutballs about their pets (I'm guilty as charged), and this is specifically an easter theme, you could easily do a nice blue or pastel background, and a few easter props, basket, plastic eggs, fake grass (astro turf), little picket fence.... maybe even some bunny ears.
The dog owners will go nuts

[DerekW]

Now that's what I'm talking about.......


http://dogsinoutfits.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/dog-dressed-as-easter-bunny.jpg



(not my picture or my dog.... thank god)

[pilsburypie]

What a fantastic way to convince your misses to let you get a strobe setup!

Thought of a chromakey background? You could then add a whole host of backgrounds after to you customers requirements.... some really OTT Easter jobs, some more subltle ones....

[shooterman]

Now that's what I'm talking about.......


http://dogsinoutfits.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/dog-dressed-as-easter-bunny.jpg



(not my picture or my dog.... thank god)

LOL, poor dog. Owners ought to be hog tied and hung from the rafters. :)

[Rudi]

LOL, poor dog. Owners ought to be hog tied and hung from the rafters. :)

Agreed. It's not right! :p

http://rudiphoto.zenfolio.com/img/v0/p868200530.jpg