An impromptu interruption to a photo shoot can be turned into a great shot.
Whilst on a location shoot we were interrupted by a strange dog that happened upon the scene….
INTRODUCTION
When my client (whom I shall refer to as AMY) first contacted me and told me that she was very camera shy and that doing a photo shoot session was going to be way outside her comfort zone, I encouraged her by telling her that we would do a casual session in a location of her choice. I told Amy that my style is not to jump straight in with strict direction, I prefer to read the situation and work in a friendly casual and unobtrusive manner. Slowly I will introduce suggestions and tips as I see the images progress.
Amy agreed to meet and give it a go as she really wanted some good photo’s for her partner who was away from home at the time.
BREAKING THE ICE
We met at her chosen location at a beach around Darwin’s Northern Suburbs. Following a brief chat about her ideas for the shoot I started with a few preliminary shots prior to setting up any equipment, showing her the images on the camera’s LCD screen as I worked.
I was setting up my fill light when a dog turned up, Amy immediately focussed her attention towards the animal. She clearly has a way with animals and her love of dogs is portrayed in this image that I quickly captured.
NATURAL SHOT
The beauty of the image is her apparent genuine affection for a strangers dog, Amy was caught in a candid moment, was relaxed and, momentarily, completely unaware of the camera. The resulting image has a story attached, and that makes it more interesting than a normal portrait pose.
QUICK OFF THE MARK
You need to be alert, this moment passed in a split second. My fill light was not set up, I literally dropped it to get this shot. As a result the sky is blown out, but the photographic story, in my mind, overrides this technical error. Many photographers would see this interruption as a nuisance and quite possibly would have chased the dog off.
