In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Nico is really good at being a dog model. Historically, I’ve approached this project as a documentary or lifestyle photography project. Most photos attempt to capture Nico’s personality, an activity we are doing, or in some way convey a story about the day. Recently, I’ve been using this project, along with short winter days, to dabble in this use of artificial lighting. To be honest, I’m mostly leaning on my years of work as a natural light photographer and general foundation of photographic principles. That’s a complicated way of saying I’m mostly learning by trial and error. Haha. At some point, I plan on taking a deep dive into lighting, but for now, I’m happy to be learning through play. Tonight, I decided to play with light such that Nico was naturally isolated from the background, leaving just his beautiful little face in the image. This is where he and I have to play a little dance. I ask him to sit in a very specific spot and look at me while I dial in the shot. The longer I take, the harder it is for Nico to remain focused and there comes a point when it simply isn’t fair to ask him to hold the position any longer. Before I even get him in front of the camera I need to have a plan in place so we both come out successful. We nailed this one in just two frames!

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