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Black and White Portrait of the Black and White Dog.
Black and White Portraits It is true that certain portraits do lend themselves to a great reproduction in Black and White. One that is quite an obvious choice is when the dog or dogs are actually black and white in their true colors. These two were a perfect choice for a black and white rendition of their finished portrait.
All my portraits are originally taken in color. When I change them into black and white during post production, there are a number of enhancements I do on the file. I tweak the contrast and density (the lightness and darkness) of the image. I add a combination of red and yellow to give a look that has just a hint of what is referred to as ‘sepia.’
The final adjustment to the file is when I do the exact cropping I want for image and then send it to the photo lab to be printed. Used somewhat sparingly, black and white portraits can really be quite amazing.
Pets and People–Showing the Love.
When I photograph my clients with their dogs there are a number of objectives I want to obtain. There are technical things that are important, of course. Nice flattering lighting, a strong composition, a pleasing non distracting background. With these objectives as a given–The most important part of the portrait session are the expressions that are displayed in the portraits. I call it the ‘icing on the cake.’ For the truth is everything else in a portrait can be great but if the expressions displayed in the portrait fail–no one is happy. At my studio, I work diligently with all the experience of hundreds and hundreds of portrait session during my 37 years as a professional portrait photographer to get expressions like the ones you see in this portrait. ESP = short for Expression Sells Portraits–This is a phrase I first heard 40 years ago and have always remembered. I alway strive to have my clients love the expressions that are displayed in their portraits.
So Much Love!
Portrait Props (as an accessory to your pet portrait?)
Portrait Props? It happens quite often that my clients will ask me if they should take the collar off that their dog is wearing? Most of the time I say yes unless is is a special collar with significant meaning, or if it a designer or jeweled collar that adds to the presentation of the dog in the portrait, and then I say yes, of course it should stay However, it is a different story when the prop is a hat or tie or some other type of prop that the client would like their dog to wear. I always say let’s start without the clothing type prop and later on we will add the prop.
Looking sharp!
The truth is normally two things usually happen–The first thing is it usually falls off or the dog does not like to have it on and shakes it off.
The second thing is that it does not stay where it is supposed to and looks goofy in the portrait.
The third, admittedly more uncommon occurrence is that it works absolutely perfectly as in this formal portrait of Tate who wore this bow tie just perfectly and really added to the striking nature of this portrait.
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