STE P BY STE P / Do the shake

1 Roll things out

Avoid the messy, cluttered background of the garden and put up a paper roll on a background stand behind your magnificent mutt. Raise it to about six feet, then gently tease out the roll and let it rest back slightly, to give a soft curve. Then tape it down.

3 Set the power

We attached Yongnuo YN-622N wireless triggers to the Speedlights and the transmitter to our Nikon D800. We then set the overhead light to 1/2 power to make it the key light, and the side lights to 1/4 power, that meant we had a bright front light to lift the shadows on the muzzle.

5 Up the ISO

When using flash, it’s best to use Manual mode and dial in the desired settings, adjusting the power and position of the lights to control the exposure. We set 1/160 sec and f/5.6, and ISO640 to enable us to use relatively low light power, to reduce recycle times of the flashguns.

2 Position the lights

We placed two lights with shoot-through umbrellas either side of the camera for an even spread of light across the pooch and background, then set up another with a reflective umbrella, firing from above the camera, straight-on at the dog for more directional light.

4 Position the pooch

Test your composition by placing your furry model and your Nikon in the centre of the paper roll. If you use a 50mm lens you’ll fill your frame with backdrop, but an excited dog that likes to roam may give you difficulties by running out of frame.

6 Shoot in bursts

To get the most out of each shake set Continuous High-speed mode. Set Continuous-servo AF and keep the dog centred in the frame; the depth of field should ensure the entire head is sharp, and high ISO should enable several flashes before the flash needs to recycle.