This is the book you want when preparing for your puppy’s photo shoot. It provides solid tips for preparing your pooch as well as choosing and using the right “mutts and bolts” equipment for winning pictures. This book appeals to anyone who wants to document their gorgeous dogs but offers extra tail-wagging value to pet parents who don’t want to miss recording every cute-icity moment as their baby dog grows to adulthood. Tail wags of recommendation!
Pros
- Attractive layout
- Great full color dog pictures
- Excellent technical illustrations
- Authoritative but accessible text
- Tips and how-to format
- For beginner to advanced
- Great organization
- Excellent detailed table of contents and index
Cons
- A bit pricy
- Mostly adult vs puppy pictures
- Little discussion of copyright issues
- Little discussion of equipment cost
Description
- Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- Written by Kim Rodgers and Sarah Sypniewski
- Trade Paperback, large format
- ISBN # 978-1-118-07775-7
- Price $24.99
Review: Dog Photography for Dummies
Kim Rodgers and Sarah Sypniewski co-founded Bark Pet Photography, a Los Angeles-based pet photography business with a mission of giving back to local animal rescue organizations. In two years, the business became an industry leader and was named the LA Best Pet Photo Business of 2011 by the CityVoter Los Angeles HotList.” Kim is the photographer behind the business, and has a BA in studio arts, while Sarah handles marketing, which includes writing and consulting.
This book offers detailed how-to information in the well-known Dummies format with pun-ny chapter titles such as Paws-ing for the Basics. The introduction explains how the book is organized and what to expect in the book. They even explain that it’s OKAY to skip around and read just what interests you. The book is written for dog lovers (duh!) who have a zero-to-advance knowledge of cameras—it’s mostly geared to digital SLR users but also includes compacts—and MAY have an interest in turning doggy pictures into a business. Because of that, you’ll need to also have an interest in computers, and some form of computer editing/software to benefit the most from the tips in the book. In other words, you can find as much or as little detailed how-to information as you want or need.
Part I provides an overview of dog photography, with an emphasis on how photographing dogs is unique compared to other subjects and what you need to know—especially in terms of dog behavior (vital!), how puppies talk, and posing/controlling your doggy subjects during photo shoots. This section also offers some quick general tips on photo equipment, followed by more detailed information on camera settings and techniques.
Part II: Fetch! Go Get That Perfect Photo explains what’s involved when taking indoor versus outdoor photos, as well as the ins and outs of studio shots and how to create your own posted portraits. This section provides excellent advice on action shots, close ups, and people/pet portraits (a whole other animal!) that you’ll want to review for those cute puppy and kid images.
Part III: Sit! What to Do After the Photo Shoot helps with managing photo files, editing your shots, displaying images including online photo-share sites (hey, hope you’ll share some here!), and even tips for starting your own dog photo business. You’ll also want to check out Part IV that offers lists of everything from ways to make photo sessions with dogs fun, conquering common challenges, Pro-Bone-O tips for giving back (to rescues and shelters for example), and how to promote a new photo business.
The fun photos help make this a stand out book, but it’s the step-by-step how-to that will make this book a winner with puppy lovers. I would have liked more discussion about copyright issues particularly in the portions covering photo-share sites and creating a dog photo business. It also would have been helpful but perhaps too challenging to offer some ballpark “costs involved” related to special lenses or photo editing software. On the plus side, the text sounds like you’re talking to friends who really want to help you make great pictures, and they explain even the technical aspects in everyday language that any “dummy” (or smartie!) can understand. In terms of content, and educational value, this is a must read.
