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Dennis Ellwanger's picture

What light modifier do you use for pet photography?

Hi, I am Dennis from Germany and I this is my second try in my studio with dogs. I am wondering what kind of light modifiers do you use most often for pet portraits/action shots and why. There is a lot of information about this for people, however I can't find a lot for pets in particular dogs.
Looking forward to you comments and constructive feedback for my pictures.

Studio setup:
1. 50 cm beauty dish at a 45° angle centered.
1. 50 cm beauty dish with grid at a 45° angle centered.
2. 50 cm beauty dish with grid at a 45° angle centered and 90x60cm softbox from the right.

Some Post-processing in C1.

Cheers!

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2 Comments

I tend to use 3-4 lights (one to create a spotlight or to separately light my background). I use Godox Flashes with access to two long strip boxes attached and my main light as a smaller octobox.. all these attachments have their diffusers removed to create a harder light.
I will use my main light set in front of the dog with two strip lights either side of the dog to help highlight the outline of the dog. I play with different lighting styles depending on the look I want to create.
Some shots are created with a single strip box attachment but it's all a matter of placement. You can always use relfectors to bounce light back in to the dog too :)

Hope this helps. I've attached a setup of how I use the 4 light set up, the spotlight is on a floor stand behind the block. This was setup for a cat but lighting style is the same.

Lighting in your last shot is lovely!!

Hi Rhiannon, thank you so much for your reply and the picture of your setup. I think I will need some striplights for my studio as well.
Are your flashes HSS capable for action shots or how do you deal with fast movement in the studio?