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My cousin has asked me to do a photo shoot with her two Yorkshire terriers. The shoot Will be in her home and could potentially get to the backyard. She wants to get some good portraits to blow up and frame in her home. Not knowing anything about pet portraits, I wanted to see if anyone had some advice on composition ideas. The gear I'll be taking with me will be a 5D2, 70-200 f/2.8L IS II, 3 speedlites, a couple of umbrellas w/ stands, and that's about it.
Do the dogs follow directions like "sit" and "stay" very well?
Not the best, but I think my cousin will be able to direct them a little.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sean Setters
I'll keep my tip simple: Get low.
It will generally provide a more pleasing perspective for little animals.
Photos with dogs running towards the camera, ideally outdoors, are usually nice. With the 5D2 you're either going to have to use the centre AF point in AI Servo or pre-focus.
Also, check out the "Post your Pets" thread in the Show & Tell forum for ideas.
Yorkies are the most adorable little dogs so anything you capture them doing is sure to be cute! :) If you or your cousin have any props be sure to use them, favorite toys, putting the little guys in a basket with front paws up on the rim of it, laying together in a puppy pillow bed are some ideas.
Oh, and most important ...don't forget to make weird noises so you get the adorable head tilt going ...LOL!!
I hope you will post photos from the shoot!
Thanks for the tips guys. Since it is for my cousin, I have a little more flexibility in my attempts, even if it takes me more than a day to get the best shots. Hopefully I can get something good in one session and I will try all of the suggestions you've listed. I'll post a few after the shoot this week.
Here are a couple from the shoot yesterday. Overall, I'd say a very successful shoot. My cousin was pretty happy with a lot of the shots we made.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7137/7...c4e0dbee_c.jpg
Bella and Lola by MAzing Pictures, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8018/7...dfed6756_c.jpg
Bella and Lola by MAzing Pictures, on Flickr
Awesome! I think you did a great job!
SUPERB!!
Please fill us in on your set-up!
Very nice, bright and sharp photos!
Thanks Denise and Jayson. Setup was pretty simple. I used one flash with a shoot through umbrella setup at camera left about 45 degrees and shooting downward at about 30 degrees. I had a DIY reflector setup at camera right. I used my 5D2 and 70-200 lens. Shot at f/8-f/11 most of the time at 1/160 and ISO 100. Denise I took your advice on the basket shot, but we did it with a little twist. I think it came out pretty well :).Quote:
Originally Posted by ddt0725
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8161/7...800f6e68_c.jpg
Bella and Lola by MAzing Pictures, on Flickr
We used a black coat on a chair for the background and surface.
OMG! This is as perfect as it could get!! I absolutely LOVE the last shot!!! The poses of the two sweeties could not have been any better, especially the dog on the left!
If anyone is interested creativelive is streaming live now and it is about people and pet photography and will be for the next 3 days I think.
http://www.creativelive.com/live
These photos are wonderful!! I'm very impressed!
I served a month as the pet photographer at petco and petsmart. Squeaky toys are a must have plus you need to practice doing a unique , loud sound that can get there attention. I was not allowed to keep the digital images so when I got done uploading them they were dumped. These just so happened to be left from my last shoot. Props are the biggest thing you can do to make for some cute photos.
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6045/6...39cbe2d6_z.jpg
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6049/6...3ed4a98a_z.jpg
@freelanceshots:
Nice shots! If these were just what was left from your last shoot, I wonder what your best ones looked like!