GTA Pet Photographer

A date with Ben

As well all know 2020 has been wrought with challenge and we all have been adjusting to an ever changing new normal.

One of the changes for me during these times of COVID is that I unfortunately have not had as many opportunities to work with Rescues. I was however lucky enough to meet with and get some images of Buena (Ben).

Ben is an 8 year old Hound mix who is currently being fostered in the Oakville area. Ben is going to need to go to a special, loving and patient home. Ben does not trust easy but when he does, he does with his whole heart.

I am positive that the fine folks at Save Our Scruff Rehome and Rescue will locate the perfect forever home for Ben. If you are interested in Ben or any of the rescues available through Save Our Scruff be sure to visit their website here.

A simple tip for better pet photography

Let’s say that you want to take a photograph of your pet or the animal you have in foster, what is one thing you should do to make better photos?

If you are familiar with T-Pain and have heard his song “Apple Bottom Jeans,” then you would have heard him sing “Shawty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low.”

Well that my friends is a simple tip to improve your pet photography. Get down on their level. Get as low as you can and let subject fill your frame as much as possible. This is particularly key when shooting smaller dogs. I recently had the opportunity to shoot a bonded pair for Speaking of Dogs Rescue. Kodi a Pomeranian and Bella a Schnauzer/Yorkie  mix.

I spent the majority of my time on my belly. It was about as low as I could get, without digging a trench. There was a rock and I did attempt to photograph both dogs up on the rock. While Kodi was happy enough on the rock, as the king of all he surveyed. Bella had little interest in being up there, to be honest she had little interest in the session at all, as there were far too many things to see and smell.

There are many other tips I can share but I will start with this one today. Grab your cell phone, your fur baby and get down on his or her level and take your shot. Then compare it to older photos on your camera roll and see how much better it looks. Share those ‘low, low’ photos on social media and feel free to tag me (@inlinedesignphoto) so I can see them too.

The last thing I will ask today is for you to help me get the word out about Kodi and Bella. The more eyes we can get on this bonded pair and all the dogs at Speaking of Dogs Rescue the sooner we can get them all adopted.

Happy shooting!

Good, Better, Best

I thought this week I might focus on the art of post-processing.

First of all what is post-processing? Our predecessors would enhance their images by working on them in the darkroom. They were capable of doing more beyond dipping photographic paper into developer and fixer baths. Photographer Ansel Adams was a master of black and white photography and the zone editing system. In the darkroom he would dodge and burn the film to bring to life details the camera could not capture on its own.

Digital photographers utilize software like Lightroom, Capture One or Photoshop to develop or finish their portraits. A lot of how we shoot and edit is a direct homage to film photography post-processing. We have even maintained some of the same teminology even though the process is very different.

Most clients are aware of Photoshop and some are familiar enough with it to ask if a certain number of years or pounds be removed from their photograph. With pet photography, we usually do more than remove dog-tags, leashes and collars. To date my most unusual ask was to make a male dog a tad more modest… if you catch my drift.

Below find three versions of the same image. Each image represents a different part in the ‘develop’ process. The image below illustrates a fully edited version of an image from Bernard’s adoption photo session. The second image represents the image with some Lightroom edits. The final shows the image as it was captured by my camera on the day.

Also I would be remiss if I did not mention that Bernhard is still looking for his furever home. He is a senior Beagle who has arthritis but he doesn’t let it hold him back. He is friendly, curious and cute as a button. Please head over to Speaking of Dogs Rescue to learn more about Bernard and the other dogs there, that are waiting to love you.