In a nutshell, I use the sun and the outdoors as my light for pet photography. I Love natural light for pet photography for so many reasons and I am certain as I go through them you will too!
Natural light dog photography
Photography is all about the light. I photograph dogs/pets in the last hour or two of when the sun comes up and when the sun goes down. This is because the light is soft and doesn’t produce harsh shadows. It is the most pleasing light and really can help produce beautiful images. Hazy days where the sun is out but very diffused by some cloud also produces beautiful ideal light for photos (actually this type of light is fantastic for photos). In the next couple paragraphs I will talk about a couple of characteristics of light that can produce soft ‘dreamy’ gorgeous images.
Bokeh
What is bokeh? Basically bokeh is the effect of a soft out of focus part of an image or soft blurred circles of light (produced through a lens). These circles are achieved as light filters through trees or foliage that is not too dense. It looks kind of dreamy, draws the eye, and makes an image more appealing. I Love bokeh!
Backlight
Backlight is the soft light rim that you can see around a subject. It is a very small patch of early morning or late day light coming from behind the subject. This type of light subtly separates the subject from the background with a soft glowing light. So pretty!
Action pet photography
I love natural light photography also because, unlike portrait or studio photography, I can capture great action shots of your dog. I really love capturing a dog being a dog. And dogs do like to run , play and just be dogs! I absolutely love capturing those crazy eye, tongue hanging out photos where the joy your dog experiences is undeniably evident.
Candid shots
I also love capturing candid images of dogs. Dogs being natural and spontaneous either on their own or with their people.
I learned from the very best. I travelled all the way to Australia to be mentored by Charlotte Reeves the queen of natural light pet photography. Well, what do you think? Are you ready to have some beautiful moments captured with your best four legged friend? I have a wide variety of locations I love to shoot from and know where all that beautiful light can be found!
AROUND THE CIRCLE
This post is a part of a pet photographer’s blog circle. Our topic this week is Natural. Please follow along ! Next up Angela Schneider of Big White Dog Photography in Spokane, Washington, having fun with dogs in their natural environment. https://bigwhitedogphotography.com/underwater-dogs-adventure-buddies/
