This was the May Assignment in the Community! You’re welcome to still complete it and post it in the Challenges section of the Community, however you won’t receive a tag for your profile. You can still use it toward your Snoot awards.
This Challenge was brought to you by Sabrina.
A “classic” pose from a client shoot from 2022 (ignore the distracting things left and right 🤓).
We all know, pets & people can be hard. Tricky to pose, to manage and sometimes it is intimidating to direct our clients/ the owner and tell them what we want them to do. BUT you all know, we only learn when we try something new and leave our comfort zone, even if it’s only with one toe for the start. In this month’s assignment, we want you to try something different than only the „classic“ portrait where the dog and owner sit next to each other and look at the camera or look at each other.
Don’t get me wrong, these photos are beautiful too and for me a must capture in every shoot to get one classic shot. I often use it as the starter pose and work myself towards a more individual pose together with the team to include their uniqueness. We want our clients to go home with a variety of shots showing different moments, feelings, characteristics, moods and energies. You do not need to invent something knew, but we challenge you to try something you never did before. Grab your friend, family member, neighbor, model or even client (when you feel comfortable with it in that situation) with their dog (or take a self portrait if you want to show off or have no other option 😄) and create one image that shows their bond, character, feelings with their connection.
Some ideas what you could switch up coming from the classic – sitting next to each other – pose with a semi telephoto lens:
- Pose and position of the dog/owner
- Angle
- Lens
- Different kinds of movement
- details and candid moments
- Visual forms of connection (touch, lines, gazing direction,…)
- Integration of the location
- Anything else you can think of!
Just some examples of different poses t show that they help with variety and different moods which give us an overall feeling of their connection, bond and character. Most of the time I use my fave lenses: 135mm, 85mm & 35mm
Little tip on directing people
Take some time to think of your idea or what you want to capture. Maybe save some poses to your phone and try to recreate them. Be bold directing the person in front of you! Only you can see how it looks from the outside and also in the final image. If their hand could be better placed – tell them! If their hair is messy – go fix it! You can do all this very kind and soft. Try to avoid saying something negative and instead say something like „That already looks great, now gently start petting your dog at his chest with your left hand. *moves the hand to a better place* Yes perfect, that is so sweet!“. Reassure them when something is good and make tiny adjustments one after another. That way you’re constantly leading them so they feel safe and confident and at the same time you’re getting many different poses and moments, no stiffness because of the movement and a great variety of shots.
To Complete the Assignment
Your assignment submission should be a new photo, not one you have lying around (after all, what are you learning/achieving then?)
Go and take your photos! Pick your favourite one (or make a collection of up to 5 images, to compare them. They don’t need to be final edits, light adjustments are enough) and upload them to the Challenges topic in the Community, in order for the entry to count toward your Snoot Awards.
