Using color in your pet photographs

April 16, 2021  •  5 Comments

This week its all about color!  Let's share some different types of color while featuring a dog within the photograph.  We have color in the background using painterly like textures, colors in the Florida landscape and color in different types of backgrounds.

Color in the background using textures

Our first example features Abby sitting with crayons and a coloring book - no, she didn't have a clue what to do so she just sat there doing her 'puppy sit' and looked pretty!

This photograph uses a colorful texture as the background added in post processing.

Beautiful colors with dog portraitBeautiful colors with dog portraitRainbow colors with dog portrait

Ok, let's sit like an adult dog and not on our butt - here's another one of Abby posing with lots of color.

Color surrounding dog in portraitColor surrounding dog in portraitUsing color with dog photography

 

Dog photography using colorful Florida landscape

When photographing a black dog, it helps to include some color in the image to help make the dog stand out from it's surroundings.  In this photograph, Gunner, a tripod (3 legged dog) enjoyed the Florida landscaping of our backyard.  While a good portion of our yard is primarily green, we do have a few plants with pink and red shades to add color.  Not to mention the colorful collar Gunner is sporting!

Maxx and Me Pet RescueMaxx and Me Pet RescueBlack lab mix posing for the camera

Gunner had so much fun running through our yard that he picked up some of the water along the way from the plants.  We had about 5 inches of rain the previous day - so the plants were happy along with Gunner.  Here Gunner stopped next to one of the more colorful (not just green) plants in our yard.

Color at the USF Botanical Gardens in Tampa

This morning it was a beautiful sunny morning in Florida - more specifically in Tampa.  We decided to take our dogs for a special treat to visit the gardens and enjoy the nice weather.  We found several different pieces of colorful artwork through out the garden.  A beautiful sunny day doesn't really make for the best photographs because the camera does not do well with the sun/shade combinations (splotchy light) like the human eyes do.  However, having said that and knowing that our pet photography blog this week is all about color - we had our girls pose for us in a few places to share with you.

Our first color blast came from the large white cow that has lots of brightly painted flowers on it.  Ollie is posing under this cow.  To give you perspective on how big the white cow is....Ollie is about 30 pounds (so not a large dog - but very small compared to this cow).

Dog sitting by large white cowDog sitting by large white cowOllie, our little dog, sitting under the large white cow at USF Botanical Gardens.

Next, we walked over to the butterfly garden area.  Lots of butterflies - some bees - but none staying still long enough to capture great images.  Capturing good photographs of butterflies requires a lot of skill or them settling down for a minute to capture as they grab nectar from the flowers.  This is Rue - she has a hard time staying in a sit-stay command.  She will sit and then as soon as you stop telling her to stay she is coming back to you slowly because she didn't want to stay.

Dog sitting by butterfly garden artworkDog sitting by butterfly garden artworkRue, our little dog, sitting by the butterfly garden at USF Botanical Gardens.

Last up is the outdoor patio area where all the chairs and table are brightly painted in colors.  At first, we thought, let's just put Ollie in a chair and see if we can get a photograph before a kitty walks by or something else and they are wanting to start off running!  But - well, let's just push our luck and see if we can get all three girls.  We promised them a snack - so they decided to be good for us.  Here's our girls (chubby and now all dieting!).  Rue (left), Ollie (center) and Abby (right).

Colorful outdoor furniture at USF Botanical GardensColorful outdoor furniture at USF Botanical GardensOur dogs sitting at the table full of color at the USF Botanical Gardens.

Blogging with other Pet Photographers

This is a personal project that I try to participate in each week (as much as possible).  This post is part of a 'blog circle' which is with several other Professional Pet Photographers around the world.  Each week a different theme is provided to the group and we, as pet photographers, interpret the theme in our own way.  Follow the link provided at the end of each of my blogs to the next pet photographer's blog - and when you arrive back at my blog - you've completed the entire circle of blogs for this theme.  For more pet photographers sharing their take on this theme, head over to visit Tracy Allard of Penny Whistle Photography fetching pet and family portraits in Coppell, Carrollton and the greater Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex.

 

Interested in a Pet Photography Session?

If you would like to discuss or book a custom pet portrait session, send an email to [email protected] or give us a call/text Linda at 813-610-2671 in the Tampa Bay area (Hillsborough/Pinellas/Pasco/Polk counties in Florida).  We have flexible rates and packages to fit most everyone’s budget as we believe that having wonderful photographs of your pet is important to so many people.

 

 


Comments

Tracy Allard(non-registered)
So cute to see Abby with the crayons, such a clever idea and great use of your year-round Florida color!
Darlene Woodward(non-registered)
Great pops of color! LOVE the cow! And those chairs are so much fun. Gunner is gorgeous - love his smile!
Angela Schneider(non-registered)
Love the idea of adding the crayons with that that gorgeous background for pet photographs.
Kim Hollis(non-registered)
I love the cow and the use of the colorful chairs. I just put a cavalier I was photographing a couple of weeks ago in a bright yellow chair similar to these and it was one of my client's favorite photos from our session.
Nicole Hrustyk(non-registered)
Love these happy colorful images!
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