Pet Photography Blurb – 1 – Environments

June 29, 2010

I receive many requests from photographers around the world asking questions on the lenses I use, techniques and other pet photography related information.  For those not able to attend one of the future workshops, you may find some useful information in these Pet Photography Blurbs that will appear within this blog section from time to time.

I’m often asked questioned on the environments that I use and why I choose particular environments for specific pet shoots.  Often it may be a case of matching a pet to the right environment, perhaps considering the safety, contrasting colours, light quality, size of dog or grouping.  There is no right answer, just many choices – for example, an environment may come alive at 8 am in the morning, only to be lacking in the same light quality at 2 pm in the afternoon.  The month of June may be great when the greenery and wild growing weeds are at their fullest on some stretches yet poor in the winter unless you are seeking a more barren type of shot with the frozen ground and stunted growth.  In other words, there is no one glove fits all.  It is up to the creative mind to seek out these environments and match them to the recipe that you have been given, i.e. disobedient dog/white coloured dog/or specific type of requested shot.  So often the environment choices for any shoot may be limited and it can then be a case of working with what you have available.