Theo and Ash
I’ve known Theo and Ash, two fine looking working black Labradors, for a while now, more so Ash than Theo as I have been on shoots and seen him working, picking up shot pheasant. They are a father and son duo with Ash looking very much like his dad Theo.
Theo no longer works, that said, I think he would if he were allowed!
Monika, their owner and handler, I have also known for a little while and I know how much she loves these dogs.
When she saw that I had started doing dog photography, she signed up and became my very first client. This was ideal for me as being my first client, it was easier for me to relax and make a good job of it. No pressure of having to meet a new client!
We arranged to meet at a popular dog walking spot that we both go to anyway, so it was ideal. I had practiced the shoot a number of times with my own dogs, so I had loads of images of dogs in the positions that I planned to use for Theo and Ash
The shoot lasted about an hour and I took about 250 or so images of the dogs. Most of them were portrait type shots but a few action shots as well. I hadn’t really practiced those much, and it showed when it came to post processing as there wasn’t a single action shot that I was comfortable with using!
What I did finish up with was a really nice set of posed images, some were of them as individuals and some were as pairs
I think Monika was pretty please with outcome overall (she brought a number of images).
From my own perspective, I learnt a number of things:
Talk to the client and tell them what you need to produce a shot. Most clients don’t understand focal lengths, depths of field, ISO’s or f stops, so there’s no point in trying to explain. If you need two dos in the same picture then they have to, ideally be on the same plane or one of them will be out of focus, so that all you tell the client!
I need more practice on action shots. Action shots are important, especially if your photographing working dogs. The shooting season is just around the corner with lots of opportunities to get some fantastic shots.
Less is more when it come to editing, I have a tendency to over edit, in short, know when to stop!
On a plus note, the work that I produced has come out really well, indeed a couple of them gained AWARDS in the Best of the week categories in a couple of online magazines. Defiantly looking forward to my next shoot!
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