Dog Breath Photography - such gorgeous pictures - how does she do it?

Newbie around these parts so I hope this is the right spot. I'm interested in pet photography like dogbreathphotography.c​om - those photos are stunning. Anyone familiar with that pet photographer? http://WWW.dogbreathph​otography.com

ETA: wasn't sure if there's a thread around here for a "how was this shot" question. I just love the entire style. Not affiliated or anything, just would love to take beautiful pictures of my own pooch like this.

lxb wrote in post #17801507
Newbie around these parts so I hope this is the right spot. I'm interested in pet photography like dogbreathphotography.c​om - those photos are stunning. Anyone familiar with that pet photographer? http://WWW.dogbreathph​otography.com

ETA: wasn't sure if there's a thread around here for a "how was this shot" question. I just love the entire style. Not affiliated or anything, just would love to take beautiful pictures of my own pooch like this.

They are great photos. It seems pretty obvious how she does it though - she takes the time to plan and setup the shot. Most of those shots are done differently. You would have to link to a specific photo for advice on how to take that particular one. It will vary for each photo. You also need to know how to work with dogs. I do some charity work for an animal rescue photographing the animals. It takes patience and knowledge just to get them to do what you want.

i'm guessing … with a very bright flash, a ND filter and lots of practice and patience.

These are truly impressive. I too would love to try to get this look.
Camera is low to the ground.
At least one flash/strobe.
Wide angle lens.
Looks like very wide aperture but I'll bet that's done in post, since it'd be hard to have a very narrow DOF with a very wide angle lens.
I think the camera's in a water tight enclosure for a lot of the shots.
Very fast exposure times, at least 250th of a sec if not faster.

Wonderful work, thanks for pointing it out!!

how wide angle are you guessing? I have a 35mm on a full frame. Think wider than that?

lxb wrote in post #17801507
Not affiliated or anything, just would love to take beautiful pictures of my own pooch like this.

Just some general advice for this. Prepare to get dirty. Get low and use low angles. Beware, most dogs see you getting on the ground as a sign that you want to play. Some dogs also do not like cameras or anything pointing at them or in their face. They tend to look away. A good way to work around this is to have a helper or, if you can manage on your own, use a toy or treat to distract them and make them look where you want. Give your dog some time to get used to the camera. Learn to predict what your dog will do and where they will go so you can anticipate the shot.

I just noticed that Dog Breath is mentioned on another thread:
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1446132

They mention a video on KelbyOne and a poster there said they use a 16-35.
Not all of the photos use wide angle by the way, there was at least one in an urban setting that didn't.

lxb wrote in post #17801541
how wide angle are you guessing? I have a 35mm on a full frame. Think wider than that?

You will need to experiment with your dog. You may need wider...maybe a 24? A zoom is much easier. Your dog will want to move around and run towards you or really far away. Or you may have a lazy dog who is easy to work with. My problem with my dog is he wants to wrestle any time I get on the ground. Using a long prime won't work with mine because he likes to get close. I highly suggest a zoom so you can adapt.

If I were doing this (and I hope to try soon!!) I'd set the camera up on a tripod and use a remote to fire it. I'd prefocus and expose, manual everything on the camera and use a wireless remote to fire the camera when the dog was in the area I intended.

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #17801521
i'm guessing … with a very bright flash, a ND filter and lots of practice and patience.

Yup. A lot of those shots have a 'strobest' feel to them where the ambient exposure is dropped by a stop or two and a strobe is used on the subject to bring up the exposure. It is nice work for sure.

Heya,

Definitely strobes. Would be easiest with an assistant to hold lighting where needed. Could be ND filter + strobe. Or could be HSS with strobe. Most look wide angle. Would make sense with a stranger with a dog to have someone toss a toy, or have the dog called by the owner, and the photog be near the owner so as they come in, you know where they will come to and have your strobe in place, and just take a shot or two as they come in. Some look like natural light with long telephoto that has fast aperture, but really really trained dogs. But the action stuff is wide angle and strobe for sure. Same techniques used in portraiture. If ambient is knocked down enough, the strobe is exposure duration, and can freeze water, etc, no problem even at slow shutter speed. HSS can do it without knocking out ambient too much with fast shutter speed.

Very best,

Thank you so much for the insight. What kind of modifier would you guess? I have one strobe - an Alien Bees 800 - and a 50" softbox but I've never taken those outdoors.

lxb wrote in post #17801745
Thank you so much for the insight. What kind of modifier would you guess? I have one strobe - an Alien Bees 800 - and a 50" softbox but I've never taken those outdoors.

24~48" softbox (octa) or umbrella. Something relatively light. I would guess a 360ws strobe on battery pack (like AD360).

Very best,

Researching some of the EXIF data, they're primarily using the EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM (generally @ 16mm) and the EF50mm f/1.4 USM.