Tips On Setup Animal Shoots

WillNicholls

WillNicholls

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Will
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On Friday morning I've got a "shoot" with a 16 week border collie puppy.
It's outdoors on farmland round the farmhouses. So there's haybails, pots, etc.

I'm told the puppy is quite happy being moved around.

Anyone got any tips on photographing it "well" though? I've not really done setup shoots before and haven't got a flash gun.

I'll probably cope but just wondering if there are any tools of the trade?
 
you can't direct the 'model' like you can with people... have the owner with you, ideally with a large bag of treats, and get them to be holding one just out of shot!

focus on the eyes, where possible, get eye contact... a flash isn't too important, maybe pop in a small amount of fill from built in flash if shooting against a bright sky. Low dof most of the time, longer lens might be nice at times. Get down to its level, don't shoot down onto it. sorry if this is obvious :P

I'm sure plenty others will have animal specific advice, there's two things to avoid in my book, children and animals... :P
 
My best dog shots have always been with a longer lens. If I use too wide an angle the dogs end up coming over to see what I'm doing. With a long lens you can catch them acting naturally.
 
Puppies are hard work, use a long lens because as soon as you get down on the ground to get their eye level they will want to be jumping on you!

Having the owners handy is good, but try to keep them as hands off as possible. Instruct them not to keep issuing treats on a whim, all puppy will do then is spend the entire shoot looking at them. Puppies (Well dogs) looking up to get more treats make for poor photos as you struggle to get the all important eye contact

Now, sneakytime. Take a variety of small objects that make noise. When I did dog shoots I had an empty crisp wrapper and the squeaker from a dog toy in my back pocket. You ca get either in your hand while holding the camera and one rustle or squeal and the dog/puppy will usually put ears up and look towards you. Bingo. Shot nailed. Don't over use it though... no more than once ever 5-10 minutes.
 
135mm should be long enough, but don't be afraid to put the 170-500 on and work at about 200-300mm

Go with whicever lens you can rely on for quick AF
 
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