'How to photograph dogs'....and their owners/staff (Part II)

After a sumptuous lunch, which had to be rather rushed as Knut and Bazel wanted a quick walk by the river, we went downstairs to meet Graham and his 3 lovely whippets, Chai, Misty and Zeppy.  After establishing a few important facts, Paul had a surprise for us all.  We were to be given a specific type of shot to get sometime during the afternoon.  Lots were drawn and I got 'quirky/comedy'!  You know what it's like when you HAVE to do something all of a sudden?  Yep, your mind goes completely blank!

We all headed off back to the river where there was a greater variety of terrain and backdrops.  First up was the group shot allocated to another delegate.  Here's my attempt....(memo to self, get a squeaky toy, give to Knut to destroy then rescue squeak and use to get dogs' attention).

Unfortunately, the rain which had threatened during the morning started to fall.  And this wasn't any rain, it was Lakeland rain!  And it was heavy!  Ooer! My camera doesn't 'do' the rain!  Whilst everyone else was sheltering under an overhang, Rachel ran back to get us umbrellas and to shut the windows on my van.  And I was sent out to get my quirky/comedy shot....


Graham suggested he hang upside down in the tree with some food in his mouth and let the dogs jump up.  Great idea!  Only drawback was that the available light under the tree was about zero.  We were only allowed about 4 minutes to get our particular shot so I wasn't very successful.  In fact, I got nothing worth looking at!!!  My time was up, the rain was stopping and it was someone else's turn.


The techniques Paul showed to us were invaluable and did involve close direction with the owner/handler in order to get the image which we had previously envisaged.  This one was one of the more successful ones...

In conclusion, getting fabulous photographs of your pets is much more difficult than getting fabulous photos of your children.  But, with a detailed game plan, an intimate knowledge of your camera and lots of practice, it can be done!