52 Week Project | Quality of Light

Quality of light is this week’s theme. It has us looking at hard light vs soft light and how it interacts in shadows, colors, and highlights. Icey was a willing model as she waded in her swimming pool. 2 sets of images, taken at 2 different time of the day. I merely walked around the pool and captured how the light and shadows changed.

From the morning, around 9:45 am central time. The light was still relatively horizontal and more of a harsh light. Depending on where I was my shadow would pass over Icey or the pool and end up as a part of the image. The best way to negate this is by lowering ones angle.

The second set taken around 4pm central time. The light was still hard, but it was at a different angle and was diffused slightly by the clouds and neighbor’s tree. Icey’s shadow has moved, as did the place where my shadow fell upon her. Also the shadows in the background have changed which provides contrast from the pool.

Next up stop over to Pet Love Photography, serving Greater Cincinnati and the San Francisco Bay Area to see her take on the quality of light.

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Tossback: Bear | Florida

Bear was an awesome shiba inu I had the chance to photograph in Florida in February of 2014 while I was attending the Hair of the Dog Workshop. He was a rescue and was a little nervous around my fellow photographers and our cameras. Some solid one on one time and Hewbrew National hotdogs (they are a gold mine in regards to smelly treats, but man are those buggers greasy!) and Bear was working the camera like a pro!

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52 Week Project | Backlighting

This week’s 52 week project theme was backlighting. This is a challenging technique to capture with bold horizontal light that often messes with a camera’s autofocus system. Done correctly, they can be very stunning. A new flash technique was employed, the results needing to be honed in a bit more. Luckily Icey and Axle were patient models and willing to work for treats so I could snag images that are keepers.

Next up head over to Northeast PA based pet photographer, Elaine Tweedy for her backlighting!

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Tossback: Hershey | Florida

In the grips of the cold of February 2014, I flew down to Florida to meet with 4 other aspiring dog photographers from around the country for the 1st annual Hair of the Dog Workshop hosted by Nicole Begley of Nicole Begley Photography. 

My comrades included:
• The fellow Minnesotan with a romantic touch, Eva of Eva Noth Photography.
• The native Floridian with tons of spunk, Paola of Hot Dography Pet Photography
• The Massachusetts based car and pet photographer, Deb of Chill Photography
• And the upstate New York budding rockstar photographer, Diane of Muddy Pup Photography.

We enjoyed the balmy 70-80 temperatures, discussed business ins and outs, and got the chance to photograph a collection of pups – Hershey, Bear, Honey, Harley and I got to photograph Paola’s pups Mini Cooper & Pixie! It was a grand time with tons of valuable information shared.


First up was Hershey. She was a patient model as Nicole led us through how she approaches a shoot. We were able to shadow Nicole and snag images in a similar manner. Tons of hands on learning experience!

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52 Week Project | Side light & front light

This week’s theme was front light and side light. (Yes they mean exactly what you think!). Windows are a wonderful source for lighting that can be used as side lighting as well as front. My parent’s cats were volunteered as models for this theme. 2 year old Lilly (tabby & white) is a ham with a camera, while year old Tootsie (grey & white) was easy to entertain with a toy on my camera and head.

Head over to Pet Love Photography, serving Greater Cincinnati and the San Francisco Bay Area and see her take on front light and side light!

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