Reworked

Having received some useful feedback from my tutor on assignment two I am going to put his comments into action and rework my assignment.

I am going to rethink my series and see if I can create a better flowing sequence. Again for this assignment I used two different locations as I wanted to explore two aspects of canine photography these being; natural setting shoots and studio shoots. It is hard to link these two locations as simply; one is outside and one is inside. My tutor did say this was an uncomfortable jump but I do however, want to show both sides of my photographs still as; this is what I had based my research one.

Secondly, from researching some other student work on the forum I realised that they were including their camera settings for images – I also done this for assignment two but as my tutor explained there isn’t any need to include these so therefore, I will be removing this information from my assignment.

I have changed my series as per my tutors feedback on my images and tried to communicate through my pictures my main aim which was, to show different personalities of different dogs. For this, I have removed any repeat shots of the same dog and kept the images which I believe were best fitting for showing off that dogs personality. For example, the puppy yawning, I could have chosen one which showed more use of props but actually – the puppy yawning is more suiting as they sleep a lot.

You can see more on my thoughts here in my learning log.

Reworked assignment:

Brief:

Create a series of between six and ten photographs on one of the following subjects:

• Things
• Views
• Heads.

“Fragments of a vessel which are to be glued together must match one another in the smallest details although they need not be like one another”‘ (Walter Benjamin, [1936] 1999,p.79)

The Walter Benjamin quote above expresses the idea that a collection should reflect a single coherent idea, but you’ll also need technical rigour to match the photographs to each other ‘in the smallest details’. Start by choosing your focal length, aperture and viewpoint combination in advance.

My Plan:

I brain stormed initially to get my ideas down on paper and then drew out a more detailed plan of what I intended to do with this assignment. In summary my plan explains:

• Research – action photography, studio set ups, canine photoshoots, use of props, photoshop editing for definition on images and animal portraits.
• Photograph to show my concept – Golden oldies, newborn puppies. Working dogs, guard dogs, family pets.
• Shoot outside in natural light trialling action shots.
• Shoot inside under artificial set up lighting against a backdrop, light and dark.
• Shoot using props with setup poses.
• Shoot using both shallow and deep depth of field.
• Create/produce a series of six – ten photos that link and work together to portray my chosen ‘thing’ which is canines and how there are many different types/breeds and purposes.

Research:

When I decided that I wanted to do shoot canines for my assignment I carried out some research to see if I could find some professional photographers that are experienced in this area for some inspiration and background knowledge. I knew I wanted to get some action shots as well so I began looking into action photographers and I also wanted to try a studio style photoshoot therefore, I looked in depth into what was needed, for example: artificial lighting, backdrops and how a studio itself is set up so that I could get myself the equipment.

Andy Sheng:

Andy sheng is a studio based photographer who focuses on animal photography. I love Andy’s quote: “A successful dog photo captures the natural beauty and personality of the dog”. Andy offered some great advise on shooting puppies – because they are less active and likely to sleep through a photoshoot it allows you to use low iso with no flash and a slow shutter speed although he does recommend that you use a tripod to avoid camera shake. As well as technical advise Andy also suggested ways that help the dogs throughout the shoot for example saying a command such as ‘sit’ is a great mental exercise to get the dog thinking. It is not just a perfect portrait image or a head shot that Andy focusses on he says every dog has something unique about them maybe a whirl in their coat or a marking that stands out, he recommends to take close ups as this is a more abstract way of photographing them.

William Wegman:

William is an art photographer who was born in 1943 in Massachussets and now currently lives in New York. He is well known for his artistic paintings which, are shown in galleries and exhibited around the world, in countries such as, New York, Paris and London. William is best known for his series of photos that are of his own dogs dressed up in humans clothes known as ‘Stationery Figures’. He composed this of eleven glass mosaic panels of his own portraits. The dogs are dressed in human like clothes and positioned huddled together as if waiting for a train. William explains that he dressed them in bold bright colours and nothing to fashionable and wanted the colours to show off their skin textures, facial expressions and patterns.

Kaylee Greer

Kaylee Greer is a pet photographer based in Boston and is known for her great saturated pictures and bright colourful backgrounds. Her work is published in many major famous industry editorial titles. Kaylee does things a lot different to Andy Sheng she believes in no backdrops no artificial lights and is the complete opposite hence why I wanted to explore her work further. Kaylee prefers to focus on natural lighting and natural settings and will take her clients on an adventure to find the perfect location rather than a studio setting. Kaylee also worked on an article based around whether flash light was safe to use for dogs, please see link in my references. Kaylee commonly uses flash light in her photoshoots as it fills in harsher shadows and can bring out details you might not otherwise be able to capture.

Neil Leifer (1942)

Neil Leifer began photography in the 1960’s and is best known for his sports photography especially capturing boxing matches. He has written 16 books, 9 of which have been based around sports photography. Neil has photographed at 16 Olympic games and four fifa world cups. He is now a full time film maker, producer and director. His photos inspired me and captured my interest because of the expressions and emotions that he portrays through them. Although a different scenario, dogs can also express a lot of their emotions through their posture and actions and this is something I want to try and capture also.

A studio set up:

For some of my photographs I wanted to explore taking photos in a photoshoot style using artificial lighting, backdrops and props. Firstly, I needed a clear space so I emptied out my spare room to make it my own little studio. Secondly, I needed a light source for this I ordered two strobe lights with white and black umbrella attachments. Thirdly, I needed a backdrop, for this I visited my local fabric store. As Abbas, W (2016) explains, for backdrops you can use your crafty imagination and use things such as curtains, loose bits of material or anything that you find will make a great backdrop! Finally, props – for this I hunted down a nice wicker basket for my puppy shoot and used a faux sheepskin throw as I thought this would make the puppy lay down and therefore, give me the opportunity to shoot whilst he was nice and relaxed. I also used a table so that I didn’t need to position myself on the floor and was at the correct height.

My reworked images:

The New Series:

You can view the contact sheets here.

My Image Summary & edits:

Image 1 – Brightness lowered in photoshop. White dog used in colourful field to show contrast – set up photo.

Image 2 – 2 Metal studs on lead removed using spot healing brush in photoshop. White dog used in colourful field to show contrast – set up photo. For better editing I would of liked to remove the lead completely but practising this, I struggled with the shadows on her chest.

Image 3– This image I used the clone stamp tool in photoshop to remove another dog from the background. I am pleased with the outcome. I also used the spot healing brush to remove some marks around his eyes and some dust over his body.

Image 4 – I lightened slightly in light room.

Image 5– Edited in photoshop. Contrast added and used the clone stamp tool to smooth out the background so no backdrop creases were shown. I used two soft box lights either side of him and took it from a more ‘birds eye view’ angle.

Image 6 – Edited in photoshop. For this image I uses the lasso tool to draw around the dog, I then inverted it and filled the background black, even though this was taken on a black background this was a faster way of removing all the creases and marks from the backdrop. I then used the burn tool to burn closer to the edges making sure that it didn’t remove any of his hair or whiskers. I then used the brush tool with a wide size (950px) to remove any white fringes that remained. I watched many youtube tutorials on how to do this but found Paul Wilkinsons from 2013 to be the best one (please see link in references). I also increased the contrast slightly.

Checking my work against the assessment criteria:

Demonstration of technical and visual skills: I feel confident that I explored more technicalities of my camera further in this assignment. I practise using fast and slow shutter speeds, higher and lower exposures as well as the technical aspect of editing, something which I am learning as I go. I explored cropping, editing out blemishes, as well as adjusting tones. I also explored the technical side of artificial lighting and using them at different angles to focus on different areas of the dog. Visually I attempted different angels, from being down low laying on the ground to being up high and taking birds eye shots.

Quality of outcome: I am happy with the outcome of my images, I believe I worked hard on this assignment. It took a lot of planning, arrangements with other people who owned the dogs, preparation – for example setting up the studio area, visiting the poppy fields first to see if they were dog friendly and suitable. I do definitely feel this assignment has room for improvement though and I appreciate I still have lots to work on.

Demonstration of creativity: I do think I showed some form of creativity within this assignment in regards to the photoshoot, I imagined how I wanted it to look and I was pleased with how these turned out. Also, with wanting to put the white dog in red/yellow flower fields it was an experiment and I enjoyed trying to get the sea in the background.

Context: On reflection I learnt a lot from this assignment, working with dogs you need a great deal of patience and you just have to let the dog lead in terms of getting their personality through on camera. It also took a lot of planning and arranging which, I did enjoy. I really enjoyed playing around in the studio like setting and feel this is something I would like to develop further. I believe I could further my research to help support my photos and give me more background knowledge on the area but I am please with the photographers that I have researched and do believe their port folios, ideas and background helped me a lot.

References:

Abbas, W (2016) How to create your own photography studio. https://enviragallery.com/how-to-create-your-own-photography-studio/ (Date accessed: 28.06.2019).

Anon (2010) The photographer. https://www.dogbreathphoto.com/boston-pet-photographer-about (Date accessed: 28.06.2019).

Anon (2017) Ringmaster: Neil Leifer’s iconic sports photography https://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/technique/interviews/neil-leifer-iconic-sports-photography-105144 (Date accessed 01.07.2019).

Sheng, A (2011) How to shoot creative canine photographs: Composition and dog behaviour https://www.dpreview.com/articles/7011163510/how-to-shoot-creative-canine-photographs-composition-and-dog-behavior (Date Accessed: 28.6.2019).

Shepard, J B (2019) Does Flash Hurt Dogs Eyes? https://puptrait.com/dog-photographer/does-flash-hurt-dogs-eyes/ (Date Accessed: 28.6.2019).

Wegman, W (2018) Exhibitions https://williamwegman.com/exhibitions. (Date Accessed: 28.06.2019).