Month: December 2015

This week’s theme for Pet Photography 52 Weeks is “Celebrate”.  The year is winding down, everyone – including me – is busy with the holidays and it’s almost an understood that “celebrate” translates into a holiday theme.  Needless to say, no time to take a new photo, but recently took photos of pets with Santa that raised money for a local shelter.  Most had the owners with Santa and the pets, and it worked out great.  The location was a corner of the courtyard of a local restaurant.  So, there was very low lighting.  I brought my TD6 stand and softbox that was on one side of Santa, and my 5′ panel reflector on the other side.  The coordinator of the event decorated the backdrop.  I practiced and practiced to get the right settings by trying to replicate the location in my house.  I’m glad I did ’cause I realized that the aperture I tend to use would have been too soft.  I tried very hard to keep everyone on the same plane and it worked out pretty well.  For every group, I’d say, “Now get really, really close to Santa!”

The photo below is an example of one of the “get really close” photos.  This wonderful couple was just so much fun and they were all on the same plane to keep all in focus.  The Mrs. just LOVED her babies, who, being typical small dogs, would boss around the bigger dogs.

This next one is a photo of the organizer of the event with her two dogs.  I loved the angle of the black dog and, even though it wasn’t possible for him to be on the same plane, it worked out.

And isn’t Santa wonderful.  He was so sweet and calm.  Everyone loved him.

Now click here to see the entry from Rachel Moore of Hoof ‘n Paw Fine Art and Photography.

If you live along the Gulf Coast, contact me at Ono Pet Photography for your own celebration photo.

 

“Dressing Up” is the theme for this week’s Pet Photography 52 Weeks group.  Personally, I do not dress up my pets.  The closest I come to it, is to put a sweater on them if the weather during their morning walks goes below 32.  They don’t like it.  Doesn’t happen too often here in southern Alabama, but it does happen occasionally.

Where I do some sort of “dressing up” are with my shelter photos and, on occasion, a client.  Below is a photo of a recent client, Molly.  She is 15 years old, walks very slowly, but my last-minute addition of the pearls really added a sort of dignity to her.  The owners loved it.

The two photos below are how I “dressed up” two shelter pets.  Sometimes adding something like this makes the animal appear more appealing to any potential adopters who are then more inclined to see them as part of their family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to go to Suzi Pix Photography to see how they “dress up”.

If you are in the Gulf Coast Area, please contact me at Ono Pet Photography for a professional photo of your furbaby.

LOW LIGHT is this week’s topic for Pet Photography 52 Weeks.  For many years, I’ve always admired the drama of low light and thought I’d need so much equipment to do it.  Not so.  For the cat photo below of my sweetheart Momi, I put a piece of seamless black paper on the wall, had my TD6 continuous light stand with only one light on at the left of this photo, and turned off all the lights in the room.  Of course, the cat was very cooperative.  And Voila!  There’s my girl.  To me, pure drama.

At about the same time as the above photo, I put my Chloe girl on the bench with the same set up to see how she’d look.  While there is drama, I really love the cat’s photo because it’s black on black with those beautiful golden eyes.

Click here to go to Suzi Pix Photography and see her interpretation of this fun topic.

If you live in the Gulf Coast Area and would like a dramatic photo of your own 4-legged friend, please contact me at Ono Pet Photography.

This week’s theme for the Pet Photography 52 Weeks group is Urban.  The dictionary definition is “of, relating to, or designating, a city or town.”  I live in a small southern town on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay and I chose to escort my Chloe around town at various spots.  Trying to get a clean shot can be a bit of a challenge when the background one way is cars and busy streets, while the other way is a parking lot.  In addition, it’s equally challenging to take photos and hang on to a dog who’d rather explore her surroundings.  But, I managed a few.  Opening the aperture wide to get a really blurry background helped eliminate – somewhat – the unwanted stuff.

The photo below is several months old.  I took it in Canada when I was mentoring with Scruffy Dog Photography.  This lovely old girl is Charlotte who, I believe, is about 13!  This shot was taken in an alley between two old brick buildings.  Very Urban.

To see another interpretation of this urban theme, go to Elaine Mueller Tweedy at I Got The Shot Photography and take a look-see.

Do you want your own urban shot?  If you live on the Gulf Coast, visit my website Ono Pet Photography and let’s arrange a fun session.