Digital Camera World - UK (2021-03)

2 ژ

How to photograph

your dog at home

Niamh CottleƺɴȵǼƏǣȇɀɯǝƏɎɵȒɖȇƺƺƳɎȒƳȒɎȒƬƏȵɎɖȸƺȵƏɯٮǔƺƬɎȵȒȸɎȸƏǣɎɀ

ȒǔژɵȒɖȸژȵȒȒƬǝژɖɀǣȇǕژƏژɀǣȅȵǼƺƫƏƬǸƳȸȒȵ٫ƏȇƳƏǼȒɎȒǔɎȸƺƏɎɀًȒǔƬȒɖȸɀƺٌ

STAY AT HOME PHOTOGRAPHY

48 DIGITAL CAMERA^ MARCH 2021 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

hotographing your best friend can be one of the

best things in the world, and disproves the saying

that you should never work with animals. Taking

a portrait of any animal is difficult, though: they

are spontaneous in nature and don’t always do

what they’re told. In this tutorial, we’ll learn about the setup

and lighting required to achieve a dog portrait – how to set

the camera up, how to use flash and how to edit the image.

Something to consider at the beginning, before picking

up your camera, is which colour background to use.

I experimented with white and dark blue backgrounds, but

preferred the latter as it brought out the brown features of

my dog and created contrast within the image. Depending on

your dog’s colouring, though, you may need to consider using

a different-colour background. Make sure you use a big

enough backdrop to allow you to take both close-up and wide

shots of your dog. When you set up the backdrop, ensure

that it is secure and won’t slip during shooting.

Have fun with this project – it will allow you to develop your

relationship with your dog, as well as exploring an area of

photography that may be unfamiliar to you. To extend this

project further, you could theme it by adding a few props.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Camera with standard-view lens

Shutter release

External flash

Trip o d

Background

Time: One hour

P

1

Set up the backdrop and the camera

For the background, I draped a blue cloth over the back

of some chairs, but you can use whatever plain background

you have to hand. To keep the camera steady, mount the

camera on a tripod. I’m also using an external flash, mounted

on the camera’s hotshoe: this is a better choice than a built-in

flash unit, as most external flash units have heads that can be

adjusted on two axes. Angling the flash light away from your

subject will avoid the flash light being harsh on its eyes.

(^2)
Position the model and take some test shots
Attach a remote shutter release if you have one; it will be
easier to hold while you are positioning your dog, and enables
shots to be taken quickly – the spontaneous images that result
are often keepers, as they will capture quirks of character.
Coaxing my dog Lily into the frame and settling her down, I
fired some shots to get her used to the situation. I started off
using 1/100 sec at f/7.1, ISO 100 – adapt these settings
depending on the colour of your dog and the background.
STEP BY STEP SHOOT A PET PORTRAIT
XɎټɀȷɖǣƬǸƏȇƳƺƏɀɵɎȒɀƺɎɎǝƺɀƬƺȇƺǔȒȸɵȒɖȸƳȒǕɎȒɎƏǸƺȵƏȸɎǣȇǣɎɀǔǣȸɀɎ
ɀɎɖƳǣȒژɀǝȒȒɎژ٫ژƏǼɎǝȒɖǕǝɵȒɖȅǣǕǝɎȇƺƺƳɎȒƫƺȵƏɎǣƺȇɎɯǣɎǝɎǝƺȅȒƳƺǼ