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ADRIAN TALKS US THROUGH HIS FAVOURITE

PHOTOS THAT’S HE’S TAKEN OF DOGS

LOUIS

I shot Louis, a West Highland terrier, in morning

fog – it was atmospheric as the fog was denser in

the background. I moved close to Louis to reduce

the intensity of the fog between us, and this helped

me retain the detail in his fur.

MISTY

I posed this lovely white labradoodle in a wood to get

overhead cover. The sun was far too high and strong this

day, so I needed softer shadows. The extreme contrast

on Misty’s fur meant I had to under-expose to retain the

highlights. I then processed the shot to balance the

exposure between Misty and the background.

YOKI

I love tolling retrievers, and I had a client with a beautiful

dog of this breed. I captured her in full flight playing in

golden evening light by a lake. As she ran towards me I

rattled off a few frames and got this happy leaping shot

of her. All the colours here are natural.

Pro’s killer kit

The squeaker

Adrian says... An

invaluable piece of

kit, ubiquitous in dog

photography, is the

squeaker. A funny,

high-pitched noise that

can be easily repeated

time and time again is

just what you need to

get a dog’s attention... and

that all-important eye contact.

Expert insight

Golden light

Adrian says... With the sun so low in the

sky, this beautiful golden light fell across

Roxy’s orange fur, providing lots of warm

highlights and dark brown shadows, so we

took advantage of this in Kaitlin’s second

Hot Shot (left). Roxy’s russet-coloured fur

complements the green of the grass nicely,

and really stands out against the slightly

cooler tones of the background.

Focus settings

“Focusing settings are

half the battle with dog

photography,” says Adrian. “ AF-C

(Continuous servo) is very useful,

whether you’re shooting static or

action shot s, as even well-trained

dogs move around a lot. A s long as

you’re half-pressing the shutter

release, AF-C will automatically

and continually re-adjust the

focus as the dog moves around.”

Background clutter

“Check your background,”

says Adrian. “You obviously

have to ensure that your subject

looks good (the pose, the focusing,

the exposure and so on), but all of

this will be ruined if your camera

bag is in the background, or

another person or dog is walking

into shot. It spoils the magic of the

photo, the intimacy is gone, and it

makes the shot look messy.”

Our Apprentice says... For our second shot,

Adrian and I took the dogs to a neighbouring field

as they were getting restless. This gave me time to

reflect on my photos, especially the composition.

Adrian advised me to use the rule of thirds.

By positioning Roxy in the upper part of my

viewfinder and moving the AF point to the top third of my frame,

I managed to take this shot with her perfectly in focus. If I hadn’t

moved the AF point, the camera would’ve focused on the grass

and it would’ve been a wasted shot.

PET PORTRAITS

March 2016 71