Cup of Puppy

[rpcrowe]

I shot this puppy using a maroon fleece background. The hot-pink background I used on an earlier shot was too vivid. 7D with 70-200mm f/4L IS lens. ISO 160, f/4 @ 1/60 second. Canon 430EX bounced off ceiling with Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Pro...

[jprzybyla]

Amazing...I am at a loss for words. Lovely...

[ggt]

I'm Mellllting!!

[kaneohebud]

Nice Richard!

[Trina]

Lovely Richard!! You must be very fast:> every pup I ever worked around was so fast, I would have had lots of pictures of an empty cup:> As always I love your dog/puppy pictures... Thanks for sharing

[rpcrowe]

Trina,

I have got to admit that speed in shooting helps with images of puppies as well as with images of kids. My secret is that my wife is my able helper. She positions the puppy or dog and I shoot very quickly.



Digital photography is my salvation. I tend to shoot a dozen or more pictures for every one I keep, It's not that the ones that I cull are bad, just that everything seems better in the ones I keep. Like the little puppy in the original image looking away from the camera. Another thing that I do is to shoot the younger puppies soon after they have eaten and are thusly more relaxed.

[Carl in Louisiana]

Very good images of a joyful little subject Richard. I like the way the DFD Pro works on these. I have been looking at them hard and will have to save up for one. I finally broke down and purchased a factory refurbed 580EXii and still playing with it before actually using it.

[rpcrowe]

Carl, I have probably experimented with every flash modifier on the market and some fabricated ones. I like the DFD best of them all because of the variable angle of the FlipIt reflector.

If I need extra light on the subject, I angle the FlipIt forward. I will often do this outdoors or when there is no surface off which to bounce or when the surface is too high or dark for bouncing. Other times, I will either shoot with the reflector straight up or even tilted back. This is really important when shooting dogs because if I throw too much light forward, it can reflect back from the retina and cause blue eyes. When I shoot the dogs straight on, I will place the FlipIt straight up. If I am shooting down at a dog, I tilt the FlipIt back.

[MilT0s]

Excellent combination of colors in this one Richard. All work in harmony for me: the maroon-blue contrast both powerful colors but not that vivid to distract from the puppy.

The only thing I don't like is this heavy shadow on the left. You can avoid it with a small reflector I think.

It is very funny that this little guy looks so serious.

[GrahamH]

Hi Richard,
Beautiful shot.
Now if it were a cat ....
Graham

[rpcrowe]

Graham,
If you were a cat, the mom wouldn't let you anywhere near her puppy! She's eight pounds of ferocious canine when she suspects that her litter might be in danger...

[terrib]

That is just a whole lot of cute. And a good photo to boot. I like the colors and the setup and the expression you caught. Always glad to see your canine pics!