A photography session begins with creative vision and conversation! One photography session may consist of several mini sessions within the entire photo experience. Pre-session conversation helps to define the pet owner’s vision for their personal session and helps me, the photographer, plan more accurately our actions during a session. Whether goals are to have a formal portrait suitable for hanging over a fireplace or a series of candid photos for a gallery wall, this pre-session conversation guides us to the type of session necessary to achieve the desired result. Examples of formal portraiture and candid portraiture may be seen throughout my website and the differences between the two types of sessions are explained in the following paragraphs:
Formal portraiture requires time and precision so that posing and lighting is correct. Lighting may be studio lights used with remote triggers, precise aperture, and carefully curated backdrops, or it may be mixed with the ambient light and natural outside backgrounds in specific locations. Formal portraiture may be shot in studio or on location.Candid portraiture is generally a more casual, journalistic style of photographing your pet. As in formal portraiture, candid pet photography may be done at any location, however, it generally requires more open space as we are tracking and interacting with your pet as we photograph. The subject may be as simple as a toy that the animal is fond of and plays with often and the owner would like great images of their pet as it plays with its toy or the subject may be two or more animals and their behavior whether tracking in a field, playing in the snow, or just showing off their beauty and spirit as they explore the world. Lighting may be strictly natural light, or it may be a mix of natural lighting and flash(either on-camera or off). The latter type lighting is usually a good choice for candid photography for several reasons. First, it allows lighting to instantly go where your pet goes because the lighting is probably with the photographer. Secondly, many times a subject may turn its head from the source of natural light and all you need is just a kiss of artificial light to eliminate shadows and provide the much coveted “catchlights” in a subject’s eyes. Thirdly, lighting on-the-fly such as this helps to visually separate multiple animal bodies and enhance the silhouette of dark colored pets such as black dogs or black cats.
Photo sessions are scheduled for approximately 1.5 hours, but we will take as much time as we need to ensure that we have the best images possible, so no hurries, relax, we are all gonna enjoy ourselves! Pricing of sessions depend on type of session, location, and other variables discussed at time of initial consultation.
As the client’s needs and wants from the session are considered, and agreed upon, photos planned for Christmas cards or sibling portraits, a session will be planned to be photographically balanced according to more formal or more candid images. A more formal session will contain a higher percentage of posed photos, and in the same vein, a more candid session will contain a higher percentage of more casual, playful images.Contact sarah@southlightexposures.com