Portraits of a Beautiful Great Dane

Its been a while since I photograhed any pets and when I had the opportunity the other week I was reminded of how much I enjoyed it. Pets can have so much personality, and as always, I love a change.

(How I envision a collection from this session being framed)

This is Phoebe, a wonderful rescue dog. I was amazed to hear that Phoebe was actually small for her breed. I had been warned this before she had arrived. And while I agree that she isn't as large as she could be she was still larger than I expected. But what probably surprised me the most was how incredibly gentle and docile she is. I hear she has a bark that's quite threatening, though I never heard it. She just doesn't have the demeanor to go with it. I can certainly see why she is loved so much.

For the photographers reading this I thought I'd provide some techie details. As I hadn't done pets in a while and I have just acquired some new kit (the beautiful new Fuji X-T2) I thought I'd play with different focal lengths and apertures to see the differences. I began with a wide aperture (F2.8) and a wide angle lense (Fuji 16-55). I like the shallow depth of field and find the distortion in her snout quirky and fun.

(XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR at F2.8 with a focal length of 33mm)

I then switched to F11 and the 50-140 lens. I feel this gave a more accurate representation and a much crisper look which I think I prefer. Although having said that, I think I'd like to practice with a wider angle lens and perhaps settle somewhere near F4 or 5.6 to add a little more detail while still maintaining a shallower depth of field.

(XF50-140mmF2.8 R LM OIS at F11 with a focal length of 80mm)

You can really see the difference in her appearance between the image above and the one above that. This is entirely due to how close I was to Phoebe while taking these images. Using the wide angle lens meant I had to be quite close to Phoebe which resulted in the distorted image. The one directly above used a longer lens leaving Phoebe to look more true to life.

Since I've really enjoyed this experience, and been reminded of how nice it can be to work with animals, I've decided to run a promotion for the next month. From now until the end of September book your beloved pet in for a complimentary session and £100 towards your order (A total value of £175).

By the way, this promotion is open to just about any pet, its not limited to just dogs. I just can't guarantee what we'll get, depending on the pet you bring to me.

Get in contact to book your session either by ringing us on 01455 611069, following this link to our contact us page on our website, or sending us a message via our Facebook page here.

Comments

I am Still Me: A Story about a Transgender Boy

Meet Leo. Leo is 15 and currently going through an epic transformation that has momentarily turned the lives of himself and those around him upside down. A mum who once had the daughter she always longed for is now coping with the realisation that she will be living the rest of her life with a son instead. When your child is born you have certain expectations of the typical life they will lead but most of us know and accept that it won't necessarily end up the way we imagine. Not every person wants to marry, have kids or be involved with the opposite sex. Most of us have come to accept this and can adjust to whatever comes our way relatively easily. But few of us have expected to have to deal with a change in sex. Its not that we've hoped it won't happen, but just that it never occurred to us that it might. This is a new adjustment that we as a society are being presented with today, just like so many others that have come before. When I first heard that Phoebe

Teen Portraits - Prom Season is Just Around the Corner

If your child is heading to prom in the next couple of months I'd say there is probably no better time than now to have portraits created of your growing teen. With the purchase of a new (and probably expensive) outfit wouldn't it be nice to capture this milestone with a portrait created by a professional. Across the pond this is a hugely popular time to create portraits, and although I am not American (I'm Canadian) I wholeheartedly agree that this is a special moment to record. My prom was a key memory in my teen years and in fact I myself had professional portraits created also. I think I'll go dig them up if I can, though admittedly I think my mother has them back in Canada. I wonder if I can get her to scan one for me. My daughter is currently making plans for college and in the running is one that will move her away from home, as many others are probably experiencing for themselves, particularly those who are 18. This makes it all the more important to

London in Spring, Whats Not to Love?

Well I know there is still a lot not to love but I'm choosing to see the great things about London at the moment. I am having a ball this year visiting London as often as I can. Which is unusual for me since I usually prefer the comfort of my own home, in rural old Leicestershire. Staying home and avoiding people has always been the easy option. But this year, possibly due to the wonderful weather we keep having, has me longing for venturing out. Again, just like my last trip, I headed out with my good friend Panikos Hajistilly . Living in North London he finds it easy to meet up for our shoots. This time though I had more of an idea of the sights I wanted to use as the backdrops for my portraits. With it being spring I was in search of colour, preferably flowers. Admittedly. I didn't quite get what I was looking for. The white fronted terraced houses with pink magnolia trees we did not find unfortunately. But I did make it to Peggy Porchen's which was a must see on m

Never Work With Children or Animals

Or so the saying goes. But I have to say that working with dogs has been so lovely. They have been almost entirely a dream to work with. I say almost entirely because we have had a few moments where a dog has needed to settle. And one moment where the dog had settled but one of my cats decided to have a look through the glass door which, as you can imagine, rather quickly unsettled the dog. Still, that didn't stop us from creating incredible work. In fact it was during that shoot with the cat instance when I created two of my favourite pieces, shown below. (It was while sitting on the couch here when he noticed the cat peering through the curtain) I don't know if I've just been lucky or all dogs are just easy to work with. I photographed a french bull dog puppy and I thought that would be tough as he hadn't had time to be properly trained yet. But he did everything we wanted in no time at all. And this included the props we used here (below), which to me

My First London Fashion Shoot

Well I finally did it. I bit the bullet and faced my fears and headed to London with a good friend, Mr. Panikos Hajistilly to do my first location shoot. We chose our locations together and Panikos organised a model and brought so much of his gear which he kindly shared with me. And probably most importantly, he showed me how it's done. I was so surprised to see just how much wonderful light was there, just waiting to be used. I am a studio photographer and while I understand the use of studio flash very well, I am very much out of practice and out of my comfort zone with using available light. Its one thing to place lights and backdrops around my subject in the comfort of my studio. Its very different to find the right light and the right backdrop in unfamiliar territory and to place my subject in it. That may sound simple enough but honestly it is not, particularly on a day with no clouds in the sky. One of our planned locations just wasn't possible as a result of the

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog