Which of MY lenses for shooting a small dog?

I was asked to photograph a friend's pug outside in the late evening sun and I'm trying to figure out which lens makes the most sense. My lineup is:

35mm 1.4
85mm 1.2
135mm f2
24-105mm
70-200mm 2.8 IS

I 'd rather just take the lenses I'd definitely use but I've never shot pets. I assume the 135 and 70-200 are my best bets (and the 24-105 and 35 can stay in the bag), but would love any suggestions or tips. Body is a 5D. Pugs have pretty flat faces and I might be able to get away with a wider aperture than f2. I'd like most of the face in focus but like the look of having much of the body blurred. I just want to minimize the trial and error with different lenses as I'm not sure how much time I'll have. Any thoughts regarding lenses or tips on photographing a pug?

no need to overkill now. Just a simple .22 should do.

LOL....

Poor choice of words shouldn't warrant poor taste in jokes. If people have constructive advice I'm all ears, and animal haters need not reply.

Very good Canon Soldier!

And 90c4 a joke (albeit in bad taste) doesn't make a person an animal hater. Lighten up a little it was pretty damned funny.

As for lens choice - I'd go with either the 135 or 70-200.

Whatever lens gives you the sharpest, best field of view and whatever depth of field you require for your shooting style

In other words experiment and whatever lens suits your style of shooting use that one

Lens choice for a shoot is not rocket science..

The best way to choose a focal length to use is to first "see" the image you want to make in your mind. Then find the best position from which to make the image so that the camera-to-subject (ALL elements of the subject) is correct to provide the desired perspective. THEN, choose a focal length that will allow you to frame the subject appropriately.

In other words, a photographer should not merely choose a lens because someone else recommends it. The photographer really needs to analyse all of the variables in a scene to get the best composition. With portrait work (whether the subject be human or non-human), good composition is an extremely important factor when working to produce an image that the owner can be proud of.

In other words, take all your lenses (or, at the very least, lenses that give you the choice of all the focal lengths you can use in your kit) and choose on site after you've scoped out the best way to do the shoot. Taking the fast primes would allow you to visually separate foreground from background (by selective focus) moreso than the two zoom lenses.

What Skip is saying is you need to think about the shoot before you shoot..

Thanks guys, good advice.

I would treat the same way as a human portrait. 85/1.2L for creamy bokeh!

a pug is a little dog... are you going the portrait look or the running in motion look??

portrait look - i personally would try 85 on a 5D -- I personally would favor the primes as the thin DOF look is what makes pet shots (in my view) also take the 35 - i know with my dogs i usually have to be pretty close for them to sit still... within reach with food for example. For this the 85 might be a tad long... dont worry about slight distortion close up... dogs arent as picky with their portraits...

For running around... definantly try the 70-200 ai servo and 3fps. If you have to try f4 if the 5d focus isnt keeping up - it can - ya just have to nail it when in servo. I tend to shoot centre focus point as its accurate and fast and if i have to recompose - i do it with a slight crop.

Main thing is - if the dog is a foodie - take something they never get to eat thats a favorite... it sounds stupid but my dogs do anything for any food... and more for something like cooked chook or snaggas. (sausage) The owner hopefully will be able to keep them still and if you can get them to look down the lens - awesome...i often call my dog while looking in vf and he tends to look right down the lens - but only for a second then looks away... holding food on the hood with my left hand helps...

and making a screaching high pitch sound makes many dogs tilt their heads and perk their ears up... you might look like a fool but youll get the shot

Goodluck! have fun...

(yeah i had dogs when i bought my cameras - now attention goes on the 1 year old bub)

Not my dog - but this is 50mm on a crop (80mm) and is a small dog - jumped up between my legs.... so only about 30cm (1ft) from the lens id say. this is f1.8... red picnic rug comes out pretty cool -

I'd vote for the longer 24-105 zoom, unless you know the dog will be really well behaved. Most little dogs I know, when you get down to shoot them, try to greet you and the lens and whatever is nearby. The 105 will give you distance to maybe avoid distracting the dog as the owner is trying to pose it. The zoom will let you stay still and adjust to where the dog is if he decides to pose somewhere beside where you want.


http://www.nanceestar.​com …s-DogPoliticalPage21.htm​l

I use my 70-200mm to photograph my dog and he is a mid-size 65pounds. It gives you the choice not to get right up on the dog and in their face.

The one attached however was taken with a Nifty fifty.

Best of Luck!
Trique Daddi

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

I have a tendency to use my long primes for just about everything, this was shot with my 400/2.8. As for your lenses I would use the 70-200.