I am always up for a challenge, so when Aimee contacted me about a shoot with her fiance Jenna and their three small dogs…this had fun written all over it. Previously all of my dog sittings were either with one or two dogs. What made it interesting was that Aimee was looking for candid shots and that appealed to me greatly.
I set up for a high-key shoot with two 300W strobes, with barn-doors, lighting the backdrop. I like using barn doors in this type of set-up because I can control the spread of light. I try my best to keep the dogs out of the lighting hot spot created by the background light but sometimes they just wander in and sometimes, like the shot with the ball…I get away with one! On the subjects, I used two 450W strobes, with softboxes as light modifiers. For wireless controllers, I use old ‘Generation 2’ Pocket Wizards which I find to be pretty bullet proof and a Sekonic 370 for light measurement.
- Body: EOS1D X
- Lens: EF 24mm-70mm f/2.8
This was a tethered shoot, using Lightroom, so the clients can review each image as they were taken.
So let me answer the big question that you have…” How did you get the dogs to look through the lens of the camera”?. I use a combination of toys but my primary tools are an ‘Injured Rabbit Call’ and good old fashioned squeaky balls. Oh, and sometimes I just whistle. Hope you enjoy this set!
