Phantomas
Well-known
Hi, I’m here to ask for some advice on inspirational material, but first let me give you some background story.
I work in a large photography related company. While there’s a huge interest in the subject of photography amongst employees the company doesn’t provide any supporting educational courses (even though management courses they pay a plenty). Being so much into photography myself and spending most of my free time on it anyway I decided to forego all the “official” channels of budget-requests, management approvals, etc and organize a small photography club. I don’t want to jump over my head, I’m not a pro, very far from it, but I have enough enthusiasm and good average theoretical knowledge on the subject (even though I often suck at translating it into practice) to get interested people into a group and “teach” them some theory and practical applications. It seems to work – we’ve been going for a few months now and the group continues to be enthusiastic.
Our company also supports a number of charitable causes and recently our PR department, having heard about our club and having somehow assumed that we’re a bunch of “professional photographers”… well, long story short – next Friday we’ll be doing an “official” photoshoot of Amsterdam’s main animal shelter!
I’m very excited. Number of reasons: the profile of the shoot is very appealing, I love dogs, have had my dog from the same shelter for 8 years, get to take some people from the group on exciting “field-trip” etc.
Some more details: as mentioned, we’re perceived as pros and are expected to provide the results that will be used for animal adoption advertisement (print and collection points) as well as for promotion of the shelter and charity in general. I’m bringing along 2-3 members of our photo club, all amateurs but able to take decent shots. I’m limiting number of people for obvious reasons – to have relaxed atmosphere around animals and not to be constantly bugged with “so what lens/aperture should I use” questions from my “students”. Myself I’m not a pro either, but confident in my ability to provide decent results.
I’m planning to break the shoot into two parts: Part one - will be shooting portraits of animals (dogs and cats), alone as well as “intimate” portraits together with their caretakerts; Part two – I will “shadow” the workers and inhabitants of the shelter that whole day, follow them around and take photos of their daily activities. I’m hoping to turn this part into documentary styled series, showing the every-day life of the shelter, animals, people.
We’ll have full cooperation of the employees of the shelter and already getting questions that put us in charge of the event, such as what facilities do we need, how would we like the animals presented to us, if the employees can participate etc etc.
Equipment: bringing my rangefinder (Bessa R3A), as much as it’s my most frequently used camera, is still under question. What I have already decided on bringing is my Hasselblad 500c/m with 80mm and 150mm (I will obviously use these for portrait shots), and (oh no!) EOS 50D, with literally any lens I want (I have access to all through my work), So I’m thinking 16-35mm 2.8 L (for documentary part), 50mm 1.2 L, 85mm 1.2 L (either of the two) and possibly 70-200 2.8 L to shoot the shy dog they warned me about from a hideout. So, that’s all sorted, equipment is being finalized and extra load of film for Hassie being ordered (there will be A LOT of animals to shoot, I’ll need A LOT of film).
Here’s the question: I’m looking for some inspirational material to plan my photos better before the event. Of course there are PLENTY of photos of pets out there, and many very good ones, but what I’m looking for if there’s any specific master on the subject, or specific series, especially similar to the topic at hand (documentary shoot about dogs, animals on the farm, that sort of thing). I’m not trying to copy anyone, but some inspiration would certainly help.
Thanks! (oops, and sorry about the long story...)
I work in a large photography related company. While there’s a huge interest in the subject of photography amongst employees the company doesn’t provide any supporting educational courses (even though management courses they pay a plenty). Being so much into photography myself and spending most of my free time on it anyway I decided to forego all the “official” channels of budget-requests, management approvals, etc and organize a small photography club. I don’t want to jump over my head, I’m not a pro, very far from it, but I have enough enthusiasm and good average theoretical knowledge on the subject (even though I often suck at translating it into practice) to get interested people into a group and “teach” them some theory and practical applications. It seems to work – we’ve been going for a few months now and the group continues to be enthusiastic.
Our company also supports a number of charitable causes and recently our PR department, having heard about our club and having somehow assumed that we’re a bunch of “professional photographers”… well, long story short – next Friday we’ll be doing an “official” photoshoot of Amsterdam’s main animal shelter!
I’m very excited. Number of reasons: the profile of the shoot is very appealing, I love dogs, have had my dog from the same shelter for 8 years, get to take some people from the group on exciting “field-trip” etc.
Some more details: as mentioned, we’re perceived as pros and are expected to provide the results that will be used for animal adoption advertisement (print and collection points) as well as for promotion of the shelter and charity in general. I’m bringing along 2-3 members of our photo club, all amateurs but able to take decent shots. I’m limiting number of people for obvious reasons – to have relaxed atmosphere around animals and not to be constantly bugged with “so what lens/aperture should I use” questions from my “students”. Myself I’m not a pro either, but confident in my ability to provide decent results.
I’m planning to break the shoot into two parts: Part one - will be shooting portraits of animals (dogs and cats), alone as well as “intimate” portraits together with their caretakerts; Part two – I will “shadow” the workers and inhabitants of the shelter that whole day, follow them around and take photos of their daily activities. I’m hoping to turn this part into documentary styled series, showing the every-day life of the shelter, animals, people.
We’ll have full cooperation of the employees of the shelter and already getting questions that put us in charge of the event, such as what facilities do we need, how would we like the animals presented to us, if the employees can participate etc etc.
Equipment: bringing my rangefinder (Bessa R3A), as much as it’s my most frequently used camera, is still under question. What I have already decided on bringing is my Hasselblad 500c/m with 80mm and 150mm (I will obviously use these for portrait shots), and (oh no!) EOS 50D, with literally any lens I want (I have access to all through my work), So I’m thinking 16-35mm 2.8 L (for documentary part), 50mm 1.2 L, 85mm 1.2 L (either of the two) and possibly 70-200 2.8 L to shoot the shy dog they warned me about from a hideout. So, that’s all sorted, equipment is being finalized and extra load of film for Hassie being ordered (there will be A LOT of animals to shoot, I’ll need A LOT of film).
Here’s the question: I’m looking for some inspirational material to plan my photos better before the event. Of course there are PLENTY of photos of pets out there, and many very good ones, but what I’m looking for if there’s any specific master on the subject, or specific series, especially similar to the topic at hand (documentary shoot about dogs, animals on the farm, that sort of thing). I’m not trying to copy anyone, but some inspiration would certainly help.
Thanks! (oops, and sorry about the long story...)
