This week's pet photography theme is about removing the leash from the final photograph.  As a good portion of my dog photography is with rescue dogs, often they are on leashes - either to keep them from running away or to help keep them in a specific area for purposes of photographing.  I always try to have an assistant when the dogs are leashed as it helps to have the leash held such that it does not cross the dog's body.  My preference is to have the leash held above the head away from the body, not tight such that it pulls on the collar - and if possible, no harness (more to remove and sometimes left on the dog in the final photograph).

These two handsome dogs were fostered by a friend of ours and eventually became part of their household.  Finding someone to adopt a 'bonded pair' is not an easy task and in this case, Nic and Cord were bonded.

Here's the original photograph with leashes.  The dog on the left has his leash pretty tight, pulling the little metal ring straight out.  Notice that the leashes are away from the dog's body and does not cross the body or legs/feet.

Here's the final photograph. Notice that the leash and the metal ring were removed from the photo.

Here's another example. First, the photograph as it was taken.

The final photograph.

In order to make these post processing changes, I use Adobe Photoshop.  Within Photoshop, I use the 'content aware' to remove a good portion of the leash and then some of the clone stamp to remove the remainder portions that are close to the dog.

If you would like to book a custom pet portrait session, send an email to [email protected] or give us a call/text at 813-610-2671 in the Tampa Bay area (Florida).