My original subject line was 'Any tips on shooting animals?' but I realised that could be a bit misleading.
A close friend of mine recently started up a dog training and behaviour business. She hasn't got the budget for professional photos just yet so has asked me to go along to a few of her appointments and classes to get some shots for her website - I think it'll be a mix of posed portraits and shots of her in action.
I just wondered if anyone on here had done anything similar and had any tips for me?
If you Google "how to photograph animals" and/or "how to photograph pets" you'll find lots of tips. One important one, in my opinion, is to get down to their level...don't shoot down at them, but get down on the floor with them. Be prepared to take a LOT of shots. If you can have someone who can stand behind you and get their attention with a toy or a treat you'll have a better chance of getting them to look at the camera, or at least in your general direction. Also, don't hesitate to make strange noises -- they will often look right at you. Hiss, hoot, click your tongue, make siren noises, beep, whatever. It makes you look silly, but it makes them look engaged with the camera. :)
For posed shots, focus on the eyes. For action shots put the camera on continuous servo focus. My Nikon D7100 is brilliant for action shots as you can just keep your finger on the button once focused and take 7 frames per second - brilliant.
@jantan@rosiekind Thank you both for the tips - very helpful! I think my Canon EOS700D does about 5 frames per second on continuous so that should come in handy.
I at one point was setting up my own website site as a dog trainer and spent time looking around stock photos (full time job got in the way so that side career went on hold). So from that perspective.... If you're doing a shoot for someone that's going to be a trainer/behaviorist she'll probably also want some shots that show great focus and attention from the dog on their owner (or on her if she's doing the training) instead of typical pet portrait shots although those are great too to show happy dogs. Pet owners looking for trainers want to see what their dog will look like want to see the pet focused on them and not on the environment, want to see loose leash walking, happy dogs, etc. Getting low will still be best to get a good angle, but you won't need to get as low I'd think since the human will still be in the shot (don't want a butt shot either). If she teaches any of the dogs cute tricks or behaviors, those would be fun to get (sit, down, shake, etc).
Like others said, take LOTS so you have options since dogs are quite active. Some of the better stock photos I was looking at had simple'ish backdrops or were in parks so the background was fairly clean.
@ladygator I was going to say this as well. Some shots of the dogs just sitting nicely as well (as a result of their training) will be nice but as a dog owner I want to see them in action so to speak.
I was going to say the same thing as above mostly. Get low, go with an open aperture like 2.8 an under so you can use a fast shutter speed. Really fast. Like 1/250 longest, but look at 1/1000th -1/2000th because they never stop moving. Servo Continuous is also a good comment, Lock into the eyes, OR nose, OR just between the nose and the eye if not very close to you, and the DOF should get the face if you don't go too low on the Av.
With flash though, you'll have the sync problem depending on your flash you might not be able to get faster than 1/200th or so.
Totally agree with the weird noises thing, BTW. Sucking in, whistling chaning the pitch up and down, quacking, siren noises, whatever you can do to get their attention. I work with animals. :)
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Check out Carli Davidson, one of my favorite pet photographers: http://www.carlidavidson.com
I love those Carli Davidson shots - for me they're up there with Seth Casteel's underwater dogs! http://www.littlefriendsphoto.com/#!/4/featured/Underwater_Dogs/22
Like others said, take LOTS so you have options since dogs are quite active. Some of the better stock photos I was looking at had simple'ish backdrops or were in parks so the background was fairly clean.
Have fun!
With flash though, you'll have the sync problem depending on your flash you might not be able to get faster than 1/200th or so.
Totally agree with the weird noises thing, BTW. Sucking in, whistling chaning the pitch up and down, quacking, siren noises, whatever you can do to get their attention. I work with animals. :)