Floydalikes

Looking through some celebrity portraits taken by an old friend, Chris Floyd, I noticed similarities between his people portraits and mine of dogs. I started to post them on twitter and it's become something I do every day. I'll keep it up until I run out of images or someone tells me to stop. If you want to see the entire series have a look on my twitter feed @gezgethings

Paul Mccartney by Chris Floyd and me

Paddy Considine + Peter Mullan by Chris Floyd

Paddy Considine + Peter Mullan by me

David Bailey by Chris Floyd and me

Close up

    I think there's an assumption when photographing animals (or anything else for that matter) that you need to get eye contact. If not eye contact then at least the head and shoulders should be in the shot. I disagree. There are many areas of interest on an animals body and it is a mistake to ignore them. The classic photo of a dog is taken from a fairly high angle with the animal looking up at the camera. This is fine but it is slightly unnatural. Much better to take the shot from their point of view. Get on your knees, it's the only way. Once you do this you start to notice some interesting stuff. This is a shot of my dogs knee. His hair here has this kink to it. It's always been there and seeing it reminds me of him every bit as much as a head shot. There is a lot going to in a shot like this. In a typical headshot there is a tendency to look at the eyes. It's instinctive and we do it all the time but it can be distracting. In a more abstract image the rules are different. You have to search for some meaning and in doing so tend to find some more interesting answers.

Border Terrier

     Here is another example. At home in the evening my dog generally sits on my lap. We both watch TV or I use my laptop and he has a snooze, whatever, the thing is that this is my view of him. I probably spend more time staring at the back of his head than I do at the front. I know every scruffy hair. This is therefore a very interesting area for me and certainly represents Baxter as well, if not better, than taking a picture of his face.

Border Terrier Fringe

    This abstract shot is of one of those modern breeds that once upon a time would have been called a cross but are now given full billing with their very own name. In this case Labradoodle. Naturally this is a blend of Poodle and Labrador. They seem to come in all shapes and sizes. This particular one has a strong poodle gene which means it has this amazing curly coat. It's almost exactly like the Astracan material my Grandmothers best jacket was made from. This is an example of a shot that relies as much on what is left out as what is included. Most of the frame is empty which kind of distils your focus and makes what little is included seem even more important. Well that's the idea anyway.

Labradoodle

Sphynx Cat

    Since i've just posted a hairless dog it seems reasonable to mention the hairless cat too. The Sphynx - baldest of all the cats. I hadn't photographed a cat before, never been particularly interested in them. After meeting these ones I did change my mind a wee bit. Not least because when they play fight with each other it sounds like an episode of Benny Hill. There is no fur to soften the blows so they jump in, dish out a volley of slaps, and jump to safety. Very entertaining.

Sphynx Cats

Sphynx Cats

Mexican Hairless ( Xoloitzcuintle )

   Think I might start posting a new breed every day. Or at least every week depending on time. Going to start with one of the more unusual breeds i've photographed - The Mexican Hairless or Xoloitzcuintle. 

Mexican Hairless

 I'd always thought these dogs were the same breed as Chinese Crested, which I'm sure must be considered very bad form amongst Mexican Hairless breeders. I'd wanted to photograph one for a while but you just don't see them. There are in fact only about 65 individual animals on the country. The ones featured here belonged to a woman who had seven. This must make her the leading expert on the breed, or at least the keenest. She was very reluctant to give me access to them at first. They had never been photographed by anyone and she was concerned I may want to make the images funny or ridicule them because of their appearance. Apparently Hoover had once contacted her to see if they could use them for in advert in which the powerful new cleaner would appear to have sucked off their fur. This is the last thing I wanted to do. I think they are beautiful animals and after spending a few hours with them I would go as far as say I wanted one. In fact the one pictured below could have gladly come home with me that day. It does look a little bit like Dobby the House Elf from Harry Potter but in a good way.

Mexican Hairless

Happy New Year

   The start of a new year and I just found this picture from High Voltage Festival. This is a now defunct musical gathering for people who still  like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. It seems like the perfect celebratory photo to start 2012. 

   The picture itself is of the fan club for a band called Black Label Society. I've seen tons of music photo's over the years and I've lost count of the number where someone is flipping the bird. It's a total rock and roll cliche and always leaves me cold. This one seems different. I think it must be the amount of people and the sheer joy they feel responding to the camera. I didn't ask them to react like this. They just got straight into character and gave me the sticks as one. There was no malice in any of them. If I remember rightly we were all screaming and laughing at the same time.

Black Label Society fans

    At the same festival I found these two characters. These guys are great. I was watching ZZ Top perform a blistering set when I had a look round to see what was going on behind me. There they were - loves young dream. I took about twenty shots and they never moved. I'd love to know what they were both thinking about. Safe to assume it wasn't ZZ Top.

Loves Young Dream

  

Fur, Flashes and the Judicious Use of Cheese

............ This is an excerpt from the Blurb on line publishing blog from the 20/12/11. 

Five Questions for a Pet Photographer

Spread from "Dogonomics" by Gerrard Gethings

Our new “Five Questions” series asks pro photographers to share some tips and tricks of their trade. Today we talk to Gerrard Gethings, professional portraitist and creator of Dogonomics, about the challenges of photographing dogs. Read the interview below, get his book, and then check out his site for more tips, pics, and behind-the-scenes photos.

Blurb: Let’s talk gear. What do you shoot with, and what’s your studio setup?

Gerrard: The gear I use is pretty much all Canon. A 5D MK11 and L series zoom lenses. I would ideally use fixed-focus glass but the animals move around too much and a good zoom gives me much more chance of capturing what I need. I always use flash in the studio and three lights is usually enough. I try to use as few as possible because they need to be very portable and with a few well-placed reflectors you can get the effect of many more.

Blurb: How do you approach capturing the personalities of your canine clientele?

Gerrard: Capturing the personalities of the animals is always the goal. They are all different so creating an environment within which you have total control of the light is the first thing. It needn’t be huge, maybe a few square feet. The owner should always be there to calm and control things. Putting up a backdrop is a good idea, as this will reduce distractions in the final image.

Image from dogtownstudio.co.uk

Next, you get down low; you should always be on the dog’s eye level. Get the dog’s attention and you’re away. It is also a good idea to have the dog in the room as you set up the equipment because bringing a dog in to a newly reorganised room can really confuse them. Oh and fire the flash randomly as you do this, so the dog gets used to it quite naturally.

Blurb: Do you bribe them with treats? Really, how do you get them to do what you want?

Gerrard: Getting the dog’s full attention is key. There are obvious traits that some breeds have which can be utilised. Terriers like things that squeak, sight dogs, such as whippets, will lock on to movement. This does require a certain understanding of dogs in general but, if in doubt, then “plan b” is to get out the treats. I have never met any breed that wouldn’t jump through hoops for a piece of cheese. Again, this is something that the owner can advise you on.

Blurb: How do you get good action dog shots?

Gerrard: There are many ways of representing action. You can use slow shutter speeds so that there is blur in the image. Running alongside the dog with a shutter of about 60th of a second (and very steady hands) can give you some great results – but it can be hit and miss. The other way is the complete opposite. Shutter speeds above 1,000th of a second will freeze every bit of action, but focussing can be a problem.

I set my camera to manual and as I am out walking I change the exposure constantly to fit the conditions. This way, when something happens you can shoot without thinking. The auto settings just aren’t quick enough. It’s also a good idea to zoom into the action, even cropping some of the action out. This gives the impression of quite explosive action which can’t be contained within the frame.

Image from dogtownstudio.co.uk

Blurb: How many shots do you generally take per pup?

Gerrard: This really depends on the situation. Generally, in the studio, I probably take a lot less than when I’m out and about. Maybe 150-200 in the studio because I’ve carefully set up the lighting so I know what’s going into the camera without having to check constantly. Outside, with constantly changing conditions, things are a bit more hit-and-miss so maybe this could be doubled.

Be sure to check out Gerrard’s book, Dogonomics, and read his blog for tips on photographing pets and people.

BY KENT   POSTED IN FIVE QUESTIONS   DECEMBER 19, 2011 – 11:13 AM

Share this post on Twitter

The most fun you can have with a camera........ f1.4

     I recently went to a wedding in Croatia. It was a family wedding and a short trip, plus we were going Ryanair so luggage space was at a premium. In a situation like this there is only room for the bare essentials. A change of clothes, some clean knickers and a camera. Carrying flash guns and spare lenses isn't an option so the good old 50mm f1.4 comes to the rescue every time. This is one of the best selling lenses of all time and apart from the odd tweak has remained largely unaltered for decades. If I could only ever own one lens this would be it. In fact I know one photographer who only ever uses a canon 50mm. If you are feeling flush there is of course the f1.2 but at five times the price I've never really been able to justify it to myself. I am only talking Canon here by the way. Leica make some unbelievable 50mm lenses including the mighty f0.95 noctilux but at £7,000 it really is a luxury.

   So back to the wedding. Everyone has a little camera these days. At the very least an i-phone. It's always tempting to take the little compact camera for convenience but even the best of them are so limited in low light that I really don't think they are worth taking. I have a Leica D-Lux, a nice compact by any standards but compared to even the cheapest SLR with a fast prime lens it performs like a toy. The sensors in these things are too small to cope and the alternative is that tiny, nuclear flash which knocks the life out of everything it falls upon. It is well worth the extra weight and size to take a proper camera.

This guy just loved to dance

   The above shot is one of many I took of this chap throughout the wedding. I think he danced with every girl and always with a huge grin. The 50mm 1.4 allowed me to shoot hand held at 1/60, in low artificial light and still get sharp detail in the eyes even though he is moving about the floor like a Dervish.

Here he is again. On his last dance by the looks of things.

   The other great fun thing about these lenses is when you set the focus to manual, find your spot and just wait for stuff to unfold. The wardrobe malfunction below only lasted a second but because the camera was pre focused and exposure was set I managed to get the action. I was focusing on the guy to the blond girls right because he kept sneaking a look down her top and I thought it would make an amusing photograph if I could catch him. I got much more than I bargained for when the girls strap broke. Funnily enough when that happened the guy was looking at the stage, listening to the speeches and remained blissfully unaware.