Introducing studio action photography with coloured powder

Regular readers might recall that I set out into 2019 with the intention of learning more about using artificial lighting in my photography. After experimenting in my in-home studio for a few brief months, I jumped into the deep end with action photography. I wasn’t too sure if I’d be successful in creating images that were up to my standards beforehand, but, well, mission succeeded! I’m thrilled with these shots. What do you think?

We also had a film crew present this day, capturing footage for some very cool upcoming projects. It was quite the event!

Stay tuned for more images posted to my social media channels as I finish them.

Tips for people interested in becoming animal photographers

When I look back on my journey through pet photography over the past few years, there are a few milestones that I felt launched me to new levels, artistically speaking, that you might be interested in hearing about.

I'm very much a creature of habit; trying new things is often difficult for me. When confronted with new information, I'm frequently overwhelmed until I take the time to break it down into bite sized pieces. Maybe this list will help you break things down for yourself.

This blog post primarily focuses on dog photography, since that’s where I started out and I’m most familiar with it.

Toronto Animal Photographer Jess Bell Photography

SHOOT YOUR DOG:

My dog was (is) my guinea pig. She's always up for playing with me when I want to try something new. I know her face, her structure and her movement inside and out. I know what I want to emphasize about her in images, and I know what I want to veer away from. She’s safe. She’s easy. She’s what started this photographic venture for me.

Jess Bell Photography - artistic animal imagery in Toronto, Ontario

SHOOT OTHER PEOPLES' DOGS:

The biggest "AHA!" moment I've had was when I began taking photos of other people's dogs.

It's tough! It can sometimes be challenging to communicate to owners what you're trying to set up. It's challenging working with dogs you're not intimately familiar with and don't know how to make them react the way you'd like.

But it's also immensely freeing! All of a sudden, you can focus on your job as a photographer 100% and leave the animal wrangling to someone else. New avenues suddenly open up to you. New dogs bring new things to the table, both behaviour- and appearance-wise.

If there is one piece of advice I can offer, this would be it!

Toronto Animal Photographer Jess Bell Photography

NEW GEAR, NEW ANGLES:

When I got my first 50mm lens, it amazed me! When I got my first 70-200 f2.8, it just about broke my mind. Using new gear (or gear you’ve not used for a while) forces you out of your comfort zone and opens up new opportunities for you. And it doesn't have to be terribly expensive. A beginner 50mm lens can be very reasonably priced brand new, and purchasing gear second-hand from a trusted source can save you money too.

Toronto Animal Photographer Jess Bell Photography

CALIBRATE. CALIBRATE.

When I first started out, I would only look at my photos on my computer screen, and I trusted that what I saw was what others saw too. Unfortunately, my screen was uncalibrated. All my work was embarrassingly pink and I had no idea until someone pointed it out. It was a knock to my confidence that took a while for me to mentally recover from.

Calibrate your screens. Turn down your brightness. Use screens designed for photography. Ensure what you see on your screen matches the prints from a professional printer. This way, you can be confident that the images you're creating match what others are seeing (for the most part at least).

Toronto Animal Photographer Jess Bell Photography

PLAY & EXPERIMENT:

The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.

The creation of art is a playful endeavor. Try new things! Even if you never share them with anyone. Experiment. Grow your knowledge. Challenge yourself. Take what you've learned along the way and use it to create your own voice.

Maybe it's not very good. Maybe it's great! Give it a try and find out.

Toronto Animal Photographer Jess Bell Photography

REDUCE BY 50%:

If you're trying a new-to-you editing technique and you think you're done, take what you've applied and reduce it by 50%.

This is something that I heard a while ago stuck with me. Sometimes we get a little carried away with post-processing (... GUILTY!), and photographs are best edited with a light touch.

Jess Bell Photography - artistic animal imagery in Toronto, Ontario

BE ACCEPTING OF CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM:

Not everything you create will be great, and there is always room for improvement. It's been very helpful for me to find people whose opinions I trust, and who are not afraid to share those opinions with me when I ask. So much of the time we're surrounded by echo chambers; it's refreshing (if not a bit humbling) when you receive critical feedback of your work. The trick is finding people who are both trustworthy and kind to do this for you.

I still have a lot of room to grow, and I still have an immense amount to learn, but maybe some of these points will help you out.

What advice might you offer to animal photographers who are just starting out?

The stories behind these award-winning photographs

That’s a wrap! The 2019 Shoot and Share photo contest has drawn to a close. I’d call it very successful!

I submitted 10 photos to this contest, and all but two of them placed in the top 10% of all images submitted. My images were lucky enough to enjoy place in the top 100 three times, with one even placing 2nd! I thought you might be interested in hearing a little bit about how I created the images that placed highest.

“Pardon me, did you say food?” 2nd place out of 24,500 photos

“Pardon me, did you say food?” 2nd place out of 24,500 photos

2nd Place

“Pardon me…?” - The Story Behind the Photo

The story behind this image is about as simple as the image itself. This is Cohen, my Always Up For Anything dog. She learns new things incredibly quickly, and nothing ever fazes her. I taped some craft paper to some furniture, poked a hole in it, then asked Cohen to poke her nose through. It only took 2-3 holes before we captured the shot I was looking for.

This was taken back before I had any studio lighting. It was captured with window light, a large sheet of paper and a tricky-savvy dog.

Lottie and Grizzly - 8th place out of 24,540 submitted photos

Lottie and Grizzly - 8th place out of 24,540 submitted photos

8th place

Lottie and Grizzly - the story behind the photo

People familiar with my work may recognize Lottie as the expressive border collie who features in some of my earliest coloured powder work. She and her housemate Grizzly traveled all the way from Sudbury to Toronto to participate in this model call.

This photo was kinda-sorta an accident. I knew that these two had this adorable trick before we shot this day, but my focus was on action/powder photos. Once we’d wrapped up their session for the day and the light was fading fast, we rushed to set up this trick. Unfortunately, since we were shooting disc on a large field, we were a bit limited when it came to options to take a portrait photo (as I normally like to use shrubbery to create depth and interest in my work). We asked the dogs to hop up on a wall, strike a pose and CLICK, we were done in 2-3 minutes, tops. I knew we’d captured something special.

Oh, and did I mention, Lottie was still PINK from our powder shots? Thank goodness for Photoshop. I couldn’t do too much about those wet paws though….

Isla and Breeze - 99th place out of 24,540 submitted photos

Isla and Breeze - 99th place out of 24,540 submitted photos

Top 100

Isla and Breeze - The Story Behind the Photo

This is one of my favourite photos to date. It’s partly because of the content, but mostly because of the editing involved. I don’t have the luxury or desire to spend a great deal of time post-processing every image I take, but this one was something special to me. I had a mental image of what I wanted to create, and I did just that!

I’d recently been looking at the beautiful work of Elena Shumilova, and I wanted to try to capture the same sort of magic she does in her work.

Some things that I modified in creating this image were: Isla’s hat colour, her pompom, her jacket, Breeze’s head position, the snow (this was taken in the fall), the lighting, the overall colour palette. I felt like this image really allowed for me to stretch me creatively, inspiring me to use methods that I’d never used before, but that I have added to my bag of tricks ever since.

top 10%

Here are the images that placed in the top 10%.

Thank you very much to all who organized it, and to those who encouraged me to submit my work to the contest.

Arya the Czech Wolfdog

Beautiful Arya the 11 month old Czech Vlcak made her debut in front of my lens this weekend. To call her stunning is an understatement, don’t you think?