It’s crazy to think that we’re already halfway through this program! The past few months have been a whirlwind, and getting this submission in was no different. This challenge- to highlight a dog’s eyes in that classic puppy-dog expression- allowed for a lot of flexibility. I wanted to make sure my subject had plenty of personality to show through the pose, and luckily my chosen model had nothing but attitude! Enter Ellie May:
We were tasked with determining a background that either blended with or complemented our subject’s fur. With Ellie’s beautiful and unique coloration, I knew that blending would be tricky! Luckily, I found a playground that had this mottled blue rubber footing. I thought it would set off her eyebrows nicely, while still reflecting some of that merle pattern.
The tricky part for this challenge is ensuring direct eye contact- the dog has to be staring straight down the camera lens, not looking past it at my face or her owner. A big lens is disconcerting for a lot of dogs, and standing directly over them doesn’t help! We practiced with lots of cookies from less stressful angles before attempting the final shot. Ellie, of course, didn’t care about potentially intimidating body language one bit. There’s food involved? Yeah, she’s game for anything!
We tried a few different iterations and I eventually narrowed it down to two top contenders. We ended up needing to shoot in the middle of a heat wave, so I had very few options without that big pink tongue front & center. While both of these images had their merits, I just loved the bobblehead look of the wider angle lens. And you can’t help but love those teeth poking out!
View a before/after of the final image here
This was another instance of needing to squeeze in a shoot right before leaving town again, so I sent in my one & done submission and headed to the airport. While it’s nice to have time to reshoot (again and again), there’s something freeing about crunch time! Did the best I could, no use thinking any more about it, just time to relax and put it out of my mind. Until, of course, judgement day rolls around again…
While the judges loved the impact of this image and it made the shortlist, there were a few things that kept it out of placements! They thought that the blues were a little too saturated and drew attention away from her silly face. The judges also thought that since her face is so shallow and her nose takes up so much space, it would look better if the snout was in focus as well, not just the eyes. I may see if we can sneak in a reshoot for my final portfolio, but I really do love this one as shot. Something to consider moving forward!
Good girl, Ellie.
