Photographers tend to photograph that which is closest to them more often than anything else. For me, that means photographing my dog. My dog is such a good dog too. She sits when I ask her to sit, stays when I tell her to stay, shake, and all the rest. But I’ve not had the best of success in taking pictures of her. Every once in a while, I got lucky in a shot or two, but something was missing. After reading Lara Blair’s book from Amherst Media: Photographing Dogs: Techniques for Professional Digital Photographers, I sort of head-smacked myself and said “Well, where was this book five years ago?!”
She offers insights in her book that only an experienced pro can really give you. For instance, as much as I love my dog and her trotting to me – I can’t tell you how often I’ve let her barge into me and my camera, thus resulting in my sending gear in for repairs from scratches, nicks, and re-alignments. One would think I’d learn from mistakes, but until Lara said:
“I hold mine high above my head when a dog is running at me”
I just kept on missing the obvious! Now I know better…just in time for my beloved pet to be the most docile and non-running pet in the world (sad to say, she is in her twilight years…every day I have left with her is precious!). Other great insights include shooting dogs from a lower angle (it makes them look larger than life, which is what owners want), anticipating session behavior (timid and aggressive dogs), and yes, handling the inevitable messiness to clean up from your studio!
Not only are her insights valuable, but her sample portfolio she includes to demonstrate various techniques, as well as insights on how and where to market yourself as a dog/pet photographer make this book an ideal resource for both the photographer turning to pet portraiture, as well as principles for setting up a pet-friendly studio. If you’re looking to make an entry or transition into pet photography, this is definitely one to include. My one nit for this book is that a substantial portion of the book is devoted to the business side. Lara talks a lot about branding, what outlets to visit, setting up your business, and other aspects of a pet studio. While these are very useful insights, these aren’t really specific to pet photography techniques. The technique portion is really only about 1/3rd of the book.
Don’t get me wrong though – it’s a great read, and very easy to get through. Often how-to books like this get either too wordy, or do not really have enough substance to them. Lara provides both, but does have a good portion that is tangential to the main topic. It’s all good content though, so it’s a very minor nit.
Just in time for Spring, so check it out at Amazon, or where ever you buy books get your own copy today:
