I find myself in a unique circumstance as being both a trained dog groomer with a family grooming business in northern Canada & photographer. I have been practicing my portraiture skills on friends and family well in the back on my mind thinking of doing so on the animals myself and family have groomed. I have not taken any pictures of the animal's we groom yet, but have practiced on my parents dog. Would people like to see Portraiture and lighting techniques done on Groomed and posed Dogs?
This photo is too backlit, and the background is uneven. You'll want to kick a little light back with a reflector of flash, to bring out more of the dog's face. But the expression is awesome.
I sometimes use our dogs as portrait subjects when I'm looking to do something different. We have a copper Pom as well, along with two other ankle-biters.
I should have put that this is just a snapshot done at a family gathering as a quick example, no editing was done on it. the light was just the natural light coming from my parents kitchen window. Animals do make good subjects for testing new equipment, always eager to please and smile.
Here's a quick shot I took testing out a new art lens. Dogs do make great test models, they rarely sit still so you've got to work quicly and capturing that perfect expression is even more rewarding.