A couple of weeks ago I participated in a Super Secret Stealth Shoot on the Sly. The mission: retrieve keys, wait for humans to leave for work, enter condo, photograph the two Labradoodles inside, leave before dogwalker comes. I had major help from the sister of one of the owners, who booked the shoot. The photos are going to be a surprise engagement present for her brother and soon to be sister-in-law.
Meet doodle #1: Clyde
Clyde is 2 years old and is sparkling white. His nose is brick-colored. His fur smells like fabric softener.
Meet doodle #2: Chloe
Chloe is but a puppy at 6 months old. She is more apricot in color than Clyde and has much less curl. She’s got this impossibly buttony black button nose that reminds me of some Pixar animated character.
Clyde and Chloe had a jolly time hanging out on the bed. Hopefully owners didn’t come home and wonder why the sheets were a) so rumpled and b) smeared with American cheese.
To get these shots, I wedged myself between the bed and the wall, knees bent – there was maybe only 2 feet of space – and set my 17-55mm lens all the way to WIDE. I scooched as far back as I could so that I was pretty much crumpled against the wall like a stuffed doll that had been unceremoniously tossed from the bed. And I did it all for the light. It was an overcast day, and what meager light we were getting was coming in from the window directly above me.
The dogs’ human aunt E. joined me in this tiny space, and together we sat squished side-by-side, me shooting away while E. smeared Kraft American cheese on their noses, dangled more cheese above the camera, and baby-talked right into my ear. The dogs clamored to get closer. I strained to back up more as my camera strained to focus on such close, quivering subjects. E. continued enticing them with cheese and cooing next to my ear. The dogs inched even closer. I could no longer hold still because my neck started to kill and I was laughing so hard. I was imagining one of the owners unexpectedly coming home, walking into the bedroom, and seeing two dogs hovering over the edge of the bed as two girls huddled together on the floor, one with a handful of cheese and the other with a giant camera.
Say CHEESE PLEASE!
I LOVED how involved E. was during the shoot. It’s always great when I get assistance from owners. After all, they know what makes their dogs tick more than I do! Not only does it make my job easier, it makes it that much more fun. I think back to my very first shoots when I didn’t want or ask for assistance, mostly because I was really self-conscious, nervous, didn’t know what I was doing, or all of the above. My God I was SO self-conscious. I remember my first shoot – and it was for a good friend’s dog, pro bono, as practice – thinking, Am I *seriously* trying to photograph this dog PROFESSIONALLY? What does that even mean? Hi I look and feel stupid. I’d just randomly fire away and hope for the best.
Truth is I do still “randomly” fire away to get the absolute candid shots. But it’s definitely a strategic kind of random, if that makes any sense. I’m doing a lot of crouching and moving around and recomposing, and am always aware of what’s going on around me – light, backgrounds, colors, textures, etc. I still have lots to learn, but I feel I am seriously getting so much better at this. There’s still that breathless flutter of nerves before each shoot, because I want everything to go well, naturally. But I am no longer self-conscious. Can’t tell you how liberating that feels. And I do feel I know what I’m doing, or at the very least I have a battle plan for each shoot (whether or not it goes accordingly is not always the case, but that’s okay!). As I do more, I am finding that I’ve been balancing the true candids with a lot more staged shots in order to get more interesting compositions, or ones that I’m envisioning in my head pre-shoot.
Anyway, back to our featured pooches!
Clyde and Chloe are BFFs.
I love the below image. A staged shot turned candid. Chloe is making sure that Clyde’s still there.
Now for some pure candids. Dogs looks so vicious when they’re playing!
Chloe: IMAGONNAEATCHOO!
Clyde: *sob*
After an hour or so hanging out at the house, we headed outside to pick up a third doodle who was waiting patiently to join the party.
Meet doodle #3: Moose (center)
Moose is E.’s own dog and blood brother of Clyde. He is an apricot. They make quite the dashing duo.
We made a stop at the dog playground, where the exuberant Chloe tested every toy there and was gone with the wind.
I particularly loved this shoot because of the location as well – the South End. My neighborhood! Chloe and Clyde’s home was only 2 streets down from mine. It took a total of 60 seconds for me to walk there. Yay! And I hope you will agree, we live in quite a pretty neighbood, filled with brick and wrought iron, cobblestone pathways and hidden alleyways. It is so very urban, so very Bostonian.
HOWEVER, if you’re going to shoot in the city, make sure you don’t schedule the session on trash pick-up day, the way I did. Oops. I strategically framed shots along the street so you wouldn’t see the bags of trash lining the curb.
Clyde and Chloe stepped aside briefly so we could get some solo portraits of Moose.
When humans are caught blinking on camera, I give those photos the heave-ho. But when puppies are caught blinking, I give those photos a 5-star rating. Why is that?
And it’s a wrap!
I’d like to think they’re all congratulating each other for a shoot well done.
We end with what’s becoming a favorite shot of mine: dog against red-orange door.
I so enjoyed this shoot – great dogs, great human assistance, great location (I want to do more urban shoots please. Beacon Hill and Back Bay-ers, call me!). I hope Clyde and Chloe’s parents enjoy their gift!
