Pet Portrait Lighting

[RacingMoose]

I'm finally going to get some studio lighting, mostly to do pet photography as a hobby for ourselves and perhaps some friends. I currently have a 550EX, but have been considering the Genesis 200 2 light kit.

Do you think this kit would provide adequate power to photograph pets and not have the flash too close to the animals? Any opinions?

Also, would a Genesis 200 1 light kit with my current 550EX be sufficient? I've thought about that but am concerned about mixing the light types.

Thanks for any advice or input!

[The Fox]

The 550 has more then enough power for smaller animals(dogs, cats, birds), but a cow or horse not so much.

Just get it off camera and use something like a shoot through umbrella or softbox should be fine unless you want to play around then grids, snoots, and a beauty dish are possibilities too.

[Austin.Manny]

I agree with The Fox.
Just get some cheap radio triggers such as Cactus V4's and another speedlite and you're set.

[bobbyz]

I remember Chuck Gardner mention silver umbrella for pets as it is more specular than white umbrella.

[Rudi]

If you want the Genesis 200 kit, and you're going to use it, then by all means get it. You will be able to use large modifiers and take on group shots (kids are pets too, right? :D):

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

It really depends what you intend to do. Speedlites can do a lot of stuff, but not everything. And neither can studio strobes. Hey, sometimes ambient light is the best choice, too... :)

[RacingMoose]

Thanks for all of the input! I think my biggest concern with the pets was being able to keep the flash/strobe far enough away to try and minimize annoying them.

I'm thinking I might get 1 Genesis 200 and an umbrella and stand for my 550EX perhaps. Does anyone think I'll have an issues mixing the light sources that way?

[Rudi]

The only issue I can think of is the slow recycling of the speedlite, compared to the studio strobe. This will slow you down somewhat, and you might be missing out on capturing the perfect moment. But there shouldn't be any issues using them side-by-side otherwise.

So far I've only had one animal not like the strobes, but she didn't like everyone's attention focused on her either. I *think* it was the strobes that annoyed her, but I couldn't be sure. The net result was that I didn't get as many frames of her as I'd like, but she still had her portrait taken:

http://rudiphoto.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p713236767.jpg

[RacingMoose]

Rudi...

Thanks for the advice and information. I'm off to get one Genesis 200 and a stand and umbrella for my 550EX. That should be plenty to help me enjoy learning with our dogs and cat.

Those are some nice photos you've posted. Were they with a 2 light setup?

[Rudi]

Those are some nice photos you've posted. Were they with a 2 light setup?

Yes. Both of those were taken at a Pet Expo, so conservative, simple lighting is what I needed. I didn't know who was going to walk up to us next, so keeping it simple was definitely a high priority! :)

And many thanks for the compliment!