Dog Photography

The second time around

Sometimes you book an outdoor session and everything lines up perfectly. Mother Nature cooperates to the fullest, the pups are raring to go and no one is already camped out in the perfect backdrop. But nobody really wants to hear about those experiences.

What is more interesting is what happens when things don’t line up perfectly. When it rains just as the session gets rolling. When one or all of the models just isn’t being cooperative? The equipment fails. You see an image after the fact that you would like to explore further?

What you could do and what I am not afraid to do is book a reshoot. I think there are many advantages to doing this. The dog, for example, could be a lot more relaxed the second time around. He or she would start to equate that strange clicky box thing with treats. The dog’s pawrents could also be more relaxed. Everybody wants their dog on his or her best behaviour and it can be nerve-wracking when they are not. I can’t be certain but I also wonder if the pawrents are concerned I might be judging their dog. For the record, I am not. You have one and I don’t, I am just happy to be spending time with yours.

It is important to try to avoid getting worked up or frustrated during the session. The more agitated you are the more your pet will pick up on it and he or she will get more uptight as well. If your dog is worried about you, he or she isn’t going to engage with the camera and the end result will not be as strong.

But most of all the reshoot, is a second opportunity for me to deliver images guaranteed to make the type of portraits you will enjoy looking at for years to come. That is my mission and I do accept it. If I feel like I haven’t got it, if to me the image doesn’t wow, I will recommend a reshoot.

This is a case where although I was happy enough with the initial images from our session along the lake front, I knew that I still didn’t have what I was looking for. I contacted my client and we booked another date. We went back to that same location and I got exactly what I wanted. I was thrilled, the client was thrilled and the dogs got another treat filled session. It was a win-win situation, all round.

It happened on a Tuesday

In today’s blog I thought I would talk about something that happened earlier this week.

On Tuesday, I decided to join a friend, who walks an Australian Shepherd named Bogie.

Early in the walk Bogie stopped to do what dogs do. I took a hold of Bogie’s leash so that my friend could grab and bag. When I walk a dog I put my hand through the loop and I grab a hold of the lead with a looped overhead grip. I realize that I could be injured if the dog pulls suddenly but I will assume that risk instead of losing control of a dog in my care.

Even though I have proper snow boots, I don’t always choose to wear them. I often figure that I can get by with my Doc Marten’s. Pro tip, I can’t.

We received an accumulation of snow the morning of the walk and it was still unseasonably mild. Although Bogie had already made a healthy deposit, he needed to make another. He pulled onto the boulevard to search for the perfect spot to squat.

When Bogie started to hunch, I turned away to afford him a little privacy. As near as I can figure, another spot had more appeal. Did I mention that this particular boulevard sloped down towards the street? No? Bogie’s sudden change of direction cause me to slip ever so slightly. I managed to regain my balance but Bogie pulled again and I slipped significantly.

I could not recover this time and down I went. I used to spend a lot of time on ramps in the skate park, so I know how to take a fall and I did not get hurt. When I hit the ground I scared Bogie and he came charging back to me. His little canine face was awash with concern. It was like he was trying to ask, “What the hell happened?’ I think it goes without saying that once he ascertained that I was okay he went back to his business.

Usually I try to marry my posts with images that are ‘inline’ with my subject but as I don’t have any photographic evidence of my recent lack of grace, perhaps you will enjoy…

You know, I kind of feel like they are laughing at me.

Telling a little about the telephoto

A few weeks ago I blogged about the latest lens added to the stable. This week I want to talk about a lens that I have had for a while. I would like to talk a bit about my telephoto lens. It is an awesome action lens that I have used to shoot things like; bull riding, barrel racing, golf, dock diving, lure coursing and flyball.

But wait? Bull riding? Barrel racing? Golf? Yes my friends that is correct. As variety is the spice of life, know that sometimes I will challenge myself by shooting other subjects and in other styles. I am convinced that shooting personal projects or subjects other than pets just makes me a stronger photographer.

But back to my telephoto, it is also an awesome portrait lens. It creates an effect called bokeh (BOH-kay). What is that? Bokeh is when the background is blurred or out of focus in such a way that the background appears creamy. It is important to note that your main subject still needs to be in focus.

The human eye is attracted to contrast light and dark or in focus and soft focus. So if your background is softly focused your eyes are likely to be drawn into the more focused part of the image.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, allow me to include some images that were taken with my telephoto lens. Whether I am shooting sport or portrait, I love having this lens as an option.

I might be doing my peers and I a disservice waxing poetic about my lens because every photographer has had at least one person say, “You must have a good camera.” A good camera does not a good photographer make. In much the same way that your favourite restaurant is not your favourite because the chef has a good stove.

Back in the day there used to be a cheap camera challenge on DigitalRev TV’s Youtube channel. It was a show hosted by Kai Wong. He would frequently invite famed photographers onto his show and challenge them to do photo shoots with toy cameras, broken cameras or some other type of limitation. In every case the professional photographer would still be able to capture really compelling images. It is more about the eye behind the lens and the imagination that drives the eye than it is about the gear.

In other words new equipment just allows me to expand my repertoire to capture the images that will best grace your walls.

It doesn't always go according to plan

In an older blog, I wrote about a recent adoption photo session that went really well for me. I guess I spent far too much time dwelling on the experience. I had an adoption session this past weekend and this time I was drop-kicked by Murphy and his law.

I was scheduled to meet Bernard, a 10 year old Beagle, at the home of his foster family. To save set up time I prepare as much of my equipment ahead of time as I can. For example, I preload all the batteries into my speedlights. My intention is to be fully up in running within minutes as some dogs can have particularly short attention spans. So the idea is to get to snapping long before the dog in question ‘squirrels’.

To my shock and horror my flash refused to fire. My first thought was that something blocked the trigger signal but that was not the case. Was my speedlight broken? Nope. As per usual, the problem existed behind the camera. I had put one of the batteries in upside down. After I loaded it correctly the speedlight fired and we were in business. Or were we? Nope, Murphy was still not done with me.

The speedlight fired and immediately stopped working. At this point I break out into what I can only hope is an internal cold sweat. You see Bernard was already on set and I knew I had to get things going quickly before he stormed back to his trailer. It turns out that I had accidentally switched the main speedlight from Group 1 to Group 3, so basically the two lights weren’t ‘talking’.

Bernard was a consummate professional and he was not at all bothered by the late start. When it was time for him to turn it on, he did and he was a pleasure to work with. Bernard is arthritic and based on what I had read on bio, I was expecting him to be a lot less active and a lot less ambulatory than he ended up being. With  ‘dogged’ determination he refused to let his arthritis keep him down.

I am pleased to report that even after the false starts, I was able to come away with a number of images of Bernard that showed him in his best ‘light’. We were even able to shoot outdoors, I was not sure we would have been able to pull that off. The weather network called for snow that day but that did not materialize. Instead we had rain and milder temperatures. It made it difficult to find snow and even more difficult to avoid the less picturesque wet ground.

Once again I invite everyone over to the Speaking of Dogs Rescue website to get more information on Bernard and/or any of their other rescues. Spread the word, let’s get these dogs adopted!

The best little Chili dog in the GTA

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to meet Chili, who was one of the sweetest Yorkies I have ever met. After being in her company for a little while, I was surprised to learn that the veterinarian approximated her age at five years. I did not go to veterinary school so I am not challenging him/her, I am simply saying that is one lively five year old.

Somehow Chili found herself living on the streets in the GTA and lucky for her the fine folks at Speaking of Dogs Rescue came to her, well… rescue. I am confident that it will not take Chili long to find a furever home.

I will say that this was one of the quickest adoption photo sessions I’ve ever done. Chili was a little unsure when I first set out my equipment but she warmed quickly and before long she was throwing off some serious Canine Steel. She was posing like a seasoned vet from the very first frame, that is why it did not take me long at all to get what I needed but I was having such a good time with her that I found it hard to call an end to the session.

If there is any room in your home and in your heart for Chili or any other rescue, then head on over to Speaking of Dogs Rescue. They have several dogs who can’t wait to bathe you with love and affection.

New year, new look, new options

In the continuing evolution of Inline Design Photo there is a new toy in the toy box.

I have added an ultra-wide angle lens specifically for pet photography. The ultra-wide lens is not a flattering choice for portraits of people. Yielding an overly large nose, smallish eyes and tiny ears. Not a good look for any man, woman or child. However the result is completely different when the subject is a dog. The same distortion that looks garish on a person looks cute on a puppy.

What really sells this lens is when you get a curious pet leaning in to check out that weird clicking box.  The shape of the lens makes the pet, the subject, appear larger and conversely it makes the background images (trees, rocks, bushes) appear smaller.

What I am really looking forward too is combining this lens with artificial light. Some of my clients prefer naturally lit pet portraits while others embrace dramatic artificial lighting. I really think those clients are really going to beam with the addition of the ultra-wide angle lens. Beam. See what I did there?

The first 3 images shown below are examples of ultra-wide angles and the last image uses  artificial light. I think I will go into more detail about the differences between natural and artificial light in a future post.

Remember with good pet photography, your pet is the hero. Now there are many ways to achieve that end. And by no means is that achieved with a single lens, a single light setup or a single location. The ultra-wide lens is a tool and as much as any good tradesperson can tell you, there’s a tool for every task. There will be times when I will not be able to use that lens. A particularly nervous rescue is not going to like me getting up close with an ultra-wide lens. For him or her I might have to slap on a telephoto lens and back up.

The look as much as I enjoy it is not for everyone and there will be some parents who will prefer to go another way. 2020 is all about options, exploration and continued growth.

They called him Pappy

Speaking of Dogs Rescue is an organization that I have worked with in that I have taken some of the adoption photos of their rescues. Photos that were put up on the website in the hope of helping each and every dog find their forever home. Not only did it allow me the opportunity to photograph dogs, which is something I think we all know I like doing. It also gave me the opportunity to spend some time with a dog that could use a little extra attention. Know that it wasn’t a one way street, I needed attention every bit as much as the dog did.

Over the years I have met quite a few canine characters and today I want to tell you a bit about this wonderful senior beagle named Pappy. I rarely get the backstory of the dogs when I meet them, so I can’t tell you how Pappy came to lose his eye, I can only tell you that it was gone. It was interesting to see that missing orb did not slow him down in the slightest. He was pulling this way and that because he wanted to see and experience everything.

I met Pappy on a December day a few years back. It was one of those winters where we actually had a significant accumulation of snow. We needed a suitable location to start shooting and the entry way of a nearby building strongly resembled a home. As we were making our way there, Pappy’s demeanor changed quite suddenly. One minute he was happily walking along the sidewalk and the next he was angrily stomping through some very deep snow. Pappy was struggling through snow that was easily chest high and regardless of how difficult it was to negotiate Pappy was a pup on a mission.

Pappy put his front paws on the window sill and began to bark and growl at the dog in the window. A one eyed dog who was barking and growling back at Pappy. As you can imagine my first reaction was to burst out laughing. I kid you not, Pappy shot me a dirty look and went back to giving that other dog what for. Not to be deterred, I tried to explain to Pappy that he was barking at himself. Pappy just turned around and shot me this look that said, ‘Quiet woman, I am busy here.’

When that pesky beagle had been suitably subdued a very proud Pappy climbed out of the snow. In fact the second image was taken just after he made his way out. I took it as he looked up at my friend as if to inform her that, ‘he had showed him.’

Pappy eventually found his forever home where he loved and was loved as he lived out the rest of his days.

You can't do that with my dog. Oh yes I can.

It is not uncommon to find pawrents who are leery of photography sessions because they know their pet cannot be trusted off leash. Or worry they might be too excitable or too easily distracted.

I am a huge fan of keeping your dog on the leash, during the session, particularly if that is the best way to keep your pet safe. And yes I have also done sessions with well trained dogs who can be trusted off leash. But they are not my focus today, today I want to talk a little bit about their counter parts and how I can make magic with them too. First of all if your high energy dog is food or toy motivated we are in business. Treats, toys and affection can turn your pup into the canine version of Heidi Klum or Tyson Beckford. No disrespect intended to either Ms. Klum or Mr. Beckford but they are both known for being excellent at their craft.

What some pawrents have yet to consider is that even the most lacksidaisical pup is actually on the move. Obviously not as much, as a pooch that only seems to exist at 100 kph but I have the option of adjusting my camera settings to momentarily freeze either dog equally.

A recent session was done with the aforementioned type of dog. A high energy food motivated dog that needed to be leashed for her safety. Regardless we had a great time on her shoot and we ended up with scads of fantastic images, if I do say so myself. Sure there were moments when the squirrels in the trees won out but there were far more moments when she was having fun and working, nay WORKING the canine steel.

Take a look at the comparison below. The first image was how the photograph was made and in it you can see the leash and Perogy’s mom. Swipe to the final image and ta-daaa, Perogy stands alone.

I am told Perogy’s grandpawrents were amazed when they saw the final image. They were not expecting their active granddog with scads of energy to be patiently standing by herself like a good girl.

For the record Perogy is a good girl she just had a little help.

Do they know its Christmas?

Earlier today I was reminiscing about when I was a kid and we had a delightful little Collie Terrier by the name of Natasha. Specifically I started thinking about the year I got it into my head that my dog needed to believe in Santa Claus.

I bought her a stocking and hung it up in her room. Late Christmas Eve, long after she had been sent to bed, I put on one of my dad’s gloves and I slipped downstairs to fill Tasha’s stocking with her favourite treats. In my head the glove detail was a stroke of genius that would convince my dog that she had indeed been ‘nice’.

The reality was that my dog was at the door before I made it down the stairs. In fact as soon as I cracked the door open, she poked her nose out as if to say, ‘what cha doin?’ Operation Santa Claus was a bust.

Do you remember when P!nk shared a holiday picture on social media of her dog? The dog was on the sofa in a diaper and he had the saddest expression on his face. The caption read: “No one pees on mommy’s Christmas”. It did not take much to figure out what happened.

P!nk and Carey Hart bought a real tree that year. I can only assume that when it came into the house the dog’s sole thought was, “Finally! We get indoor plumbing too”. I can’t begin to imagine the confusion that went through that poor dog’s mind. Was he confused the next time he went outside and faced a tree? “What do I do? What do I do?”

Much like it doesn’t matter how you choose to observe this holiday season. Nor does it matter how you incorporate your fur babies into your holiday plans. All I ask is that everyone make this the happiest and safest holiday season possible.

I am adding a few more images from the PARS event because everybody loves canine steel and everybody loves Santa:

Yes, your dog is a supermodel

I am not kidding. Dogs really are. You might think that your dog is only interested in sleeping, barking and scarfing down treats but you’d be mistaken. That is not to say that they don’t enjoy those things but deep down what your dog truly is, is a frustrated supermodel.

I can hear you laughing but hear me out. I don’t care if you think your dog is high strung and can’t sit still or is a card carrying member of team Van Winkle and can barely find the energy to go potty. I have worked with enough dogs to know that with the right encouragement any dog will come alive in front of my camera lens. Rescues, with pasts that only they know; purebreds with storied lineage or that cute little pup with the Osterizer mix of a bloodline. It just doesn’t matter, of course their natural personality will always shine through but so will their inner supermodel.

One minute it is all about the distractions. Is that a squirrel? What’s that smell? What is going on over there? Are there any more treats? Then bamm! Your dog is smouldering, smiling, working the camera or coyly looking away.

This natural ability was why I coined the term Canine Steel. I obviously took my inspiration from a movie that curiously I never saw, but I wanted a way to easily identify that moment, during the session when the dog switched on. If you follow me on Instagram and if you don’t you should, you will notice many of them have the hashtag "#caninesteel.

What if you don’t know if your dogs a natural model? What if you did and you’ve got photos to prove it. If you do, I would love to see them. Please tag me (@inlindesignphoto) on social media with your best (or worst) canine steel photos.

And tit for tat here is a few of mine:

Santa Paws is coming to town

Late October an opportunity came along to combine a few of my favourite things. And by doing so I could help raise some much needed funds for the Peel Animal Rescue Society. They were looking for a photographer, (favourite thing number one), to take pictures of all the pets, (favourite thing number two), who would be at Sheridan Nurseries November 24th to visit Santa Paws to tell him what they wanted for the holidays.

We formed a small but mighty team that day; Santa, Mrs Paws, my good friend Jamie and yours truly. Mrs Paws manned the registration table ensuring a smooth and organized transition from one family to the next. Jamie was on lead squeaker, my voice activated light stand and helped to secure my equipment when excited bodies and tails go too close.

It was a lot of fun to see all the different dog personalities and outfits on the day. You had your happy go lucky dogs who couldn’t wait to sit next to Santa. You had your ‘nope, nope, nope’ dogs, who wanted nothing, to do with the man in the red suit.

I went into this event fully prepared to see a sea of canines, so you can imagine my surprise when a cat showed up to take part. Further, you could have knocked me over with a feather when it was the Guinea Pigs turn. Yes, I said Guinea Pig.

All told, it took about 3 hours to shoot about 500 frames, of over 30 participants but the number that brings me the greatest sense of pride is the $700 dollars we helped raise for the rescue. I hope that we helped more pets get home for the holidays.

To donate, volunteer or to take part in the December 7th Santa Paws event contact the Peel Animal Rescue Society (905) 813-1993

Chica and Arnica - Photographing Rescues

I recently got a call to take some adoption photos of a bonded pair that hadn’t been garnering the interest they deserved. If you have been around here for a while you will know that I owe a lot to the photographer that I have become with my earlier work with rescues and adoption photos.

I met these two feisty but lovable Chihuahua-Pomeranian nuggets in a park near where they were staying in foster. It was immediately obvious that they were indeed bonded and their relationship was well established.

Chica, the lighter coat, was clearly the alpha in their relationship. By the time our shoot was complete I had managed to win her over and she happily accepted pets and scritches. Arnica never quite warmed up to me in that short time although her curiousity let her get close a time or two.

Watching those two wander through near chest deep levels of snow was about the cutest thing ever!

I sure hope these two are adopted soon. If you have room in your heart and your life for two little siblings please get in touch with the fine folks at Speaking of Dogs Rescue today.

When chase is life

A lot of pet events and expos have a lure chase set up, this is a fun activity you can try with your dog. Granted it isn’t free but I would still recommend you give it a try.

What is a lure chase or what is lure coursing? Basically a soft material ‘lure’ is attached to a line and it is pulled through a course by a motor. To catch the lure your dog is required to execute a series of turns and small jumps.

The lure itself is unscented which gives a distinct advantage to dogs that are sight hounds. Some dogs rely more on their nose to track and unfortunately those dogs frequently lose track of the lure and get lost within the course. The dogs that track visually race through the course at break neck speeds, sometimes barking or yipping as they give chase.

A lure chase will also show how quickly some dogs learn or adapt in comparison to others. During the New’bark’et event the first turn was a wide, left followed immediately by a sharp left that turned into an inverted V. I watched one dog struggle with this course, he would make the first left and just keep going straight. It would take him a minute to realize that the lure was ‘gone’ which was just enough time for the lure to catch up to him again. But no matter how many times he ran the course he never once made that sharp left.

Meanwhile there was the dog pictured above who quickly worked out that running up and down the V was pointless. This dog opted to wait along the lure’s exit route and just snap at it as it passed. I believe this dog was able to successfully capture the lure three times.

Another dog attempted that same technique but with a far more hilarious result. As near as I can figure the other dog hadn’t properly straddled the line so when the lure went past the edges of it brushed his legs. All I know is the dog suddenly did a sort of half hop, half flail avoidance dance. As soon as the lure was gone the dog started trotting back towards the exit where his parents were cheering him on. Since they had paid five dollars for his turn, they were trying to encourage him to try again. However he was not having it, he just tucked his tail and scooted past his parents and ran out of the arena.

But for the dogs who love to chase, the lure chase is a great source of exercise and I strongly expect is also responsible for afternoon power naps.

Dogs that go splash!!

I made it out to New’bark’et 2019, which is a dog festival held in Newmarket, Ontario. There was a variety of events scheduled for people and their fur kids to enjoy. There was a pool open for canine swimming, there was a lure course and tons of vendors with everything your dog could ever need. One of my favourite events on the day was the Aqua Dogs Dock Jumping Competition.

Trying to capture the dogs mid flight was a challenge. First of all each dog has a different style and that makes them unpredictable. Some dogs explode off the end of the dock like a missile with hardly any hang time while others will spring off the dock and bounce into the stratosphere. So when I get that perfect shot, that dog frozen in time and space, I am more than a little proud of myself.

If you have never seen a dock diving competition you really need to, it is a blast. Dock diving does not seem to be limited to any particular breed, as long as the dog likes to jump and swim they are good to go. However, Aussie Shepherds, Border Collies and Retrievers are usually well represented.

In Go Long, the discipline I was there for, the dog leaps off the dock and is scored on how far he or she travels from the base of the dock. The distance is measured from the end of the dock to the base of the competitors tail. The handlers have one of two ways to encourage their pup into the water. They can either launch the toy in and have the dog go get it or throw the toy in front of a dog racing along the dock.

Along with high flying acrobatics you are guaranteed to see at least one dog slam on the brakes at the dock edge. Each handler has a minute to verbally encourage their dog into the pool or try a restart in order to come away with some measure of a score. But there are some days the dog just isn’t having it and he or she will stand on the edge and bark or pace around frantically, trying to figure out how to get their toy back without getting wet.

But whether they go in or not every competitor gets some love from their handler as they are lead off the dock.

Now and then - Compare and contrast

Dog adoption photos for a local rescue was my in road into pet photography. I will admit I was always worried, that I would finish the shoot with a car full of puppies. In fact, my brother met me at the front door after my first shoot, to see if I brought home any souvenirs.

This was Luna or at least that was her name when we met. She was one of the first rescues I photographed for Speaking of Dogs. I often wonder how she is doing now. I can’t speak for any other rescue photographer but each dog I photograph becomes mine, in some little way.

My abilities to finish my work has improved by leaps and bounds, as the above images of Luna illustrate. Although I remember at the time being quite proud of that initial image.

My current goal with my clients is to educate. There is a difference between a picture of your furry loved one and wall art. My business is wall art, I don’t want to just photograph your pet, I want to provide you with a piece for your wall that evokes emotion. That reminds you of a special day, a special time or reminds you of someone who couldn’t ‘stay’ any longer.

Ask about a pet photography experience with Inline Design Photo today!