TOP DOG PORTRAITS
ELKE VOGELSANG shows you how to take shots of dark pets against a black background for pawsome (sorry) results in your own home
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Intermediate TIME TAKEN: 2 hours
Black dogs are notoriously difficult to photograph. At least, that’s what a lot of people think. Black fur isn’t very reflective, so you need a more powerful light to capture it, and have to pay attention to the quality and the direction of the light you use.
When shooting outdoors in ambient light, you can choose a location with the most favourable conditions for your subject (even soft illumination). In your studio setup – which could be as simple as a room at home with space to shoot in – you need to provide the extra light yourself.
To capture a beautifully lit picture of a black dog on a black or dark grey background in the studio, you don’t need fancy or expensive equipment. For this project, I used one key light, mostly positioned with the dog’s face towards that strobe. For profile shots, meanwhile, I positioned the light slightly behind the subject.
Over the next few pages I’ll show you how to shoot dark dogs against an equally dark background, and then use Photoshop for some simple but effective processing steps to make the final images really stand out.