Misty day Dog Photography, Portable Studios and Wasted Energy

Jamie Emerson runs Hairy Dog Photography in the North East of England covering Durham, Newcastle, Darlington, Northumberland and beyond.  Bespoke pet photographer, specialising in outdoor, lifestyle portraiture.


Almost every time I step out for a dog walk...

...I'll have a camera of some kind with me.  Sometimes I'll also have high hopes of a decent photograph but usually it's purely force of habit.  Today looked 'interesting' outside - huge rolling fog banks drifting through hollows, causing trees to suddenly loom up before being immediately wreathed in mist again.

So rather than the usual point and shoot, or small DSLR with one small, prime lens, I hefted one of the big cameras into my rucksack along with the monstrous 70-200mm lens.  A weighty combo.  I'm sure that most of us have gone for a walk with a camera, only to return home without the blooming thing leaving its bag.  Well, I do that a lot, so if I have the 'Big Guns' with me, I pretty much force myself to take at least one photo.And yes, it was pretty much a waste of effort - what should have been a set of beautiful, ghostly, ethereal photos was in reality, some photos of greyness with hints of tree...

In light of the lack of visible subject matter, I reverted to my default setting of dog photographer and got one passable shot of Kasper in the woods, where the fog was less thick.  So at least carrying the big camera for a few miles wasn't a complete waste of effort!

In other news, I recently visited Charlie the Spaniel in Byker, Newcastle for an indoor pet portrait photography session.  My portable studio squeezes into surprisingly small spaces and although I do specialise in outdoor, lifestyle portrait work, I'm equally at home in a studio and always relish the chance to get creative with the lighting.  Charlie and his people behaved admirably throughout - you can see his full gallery here on the hairy dog website.

If you'd like to book your dog in for a session, please feel free to pop over to the main Hairy Dog website to learn more or get in touch using the hairy dog contact page.

More off-camera flash and dog walks in County Durham.

Dog portraiture in the North East by Jamie Emerson at Hairy Dog Photography.  Strobist photography techniques applied to dog photography.  Covering Durham, Sunderland and Newcastle.


Following on from Wednesday's off-camera flash testing, the iShoot Sniper radio flash-triggers came out on yesterday's walk.  We parked up at Sunderland Bridge, a sleepy little village just South of Durham, and walked out into the rural idyll that is the Weardale way.  The section we were walking follows the River Wear - the return journey is a footpath on the opposite bank.

Kasper has learnt to be incredibly patient.  As soon as he sees the camera gear coming out, he hunkers down in preparation for a lengthy wait.

No flash here - just a snap of the path and the arches of the railway bridge beyond....

After crossing the river, we began the return leg.  Stopped after catching a glimpse of something extraordinarily blue on the far bank.  Opened the flask and waited - sure enough - a kingfisher!  Several times it flitted up and down the river and returned to the safety of a huge overhanging bush.  I'm guessing it has a nest in there - may have to go back with the long lens.  Nothing can prepare you for the magic of seeing a wild kingfisher!  As an aside, all these pics were shot using a 35mm lens for the sake of weight and simplicity.

The sun shone, the iShoot Sniper radio triggers behaved impeccably, Kasper behaved reasonably and what a cracking walk it was - definitely one to do again very soon!

Dog Portraits strobist style in the North East

iShoot Sniper review, Jamie Emerson at Hairy Dog Photography, Pet and Lifestyle portraiture throughout the North East, tests a set of iShoot Pocket Wizard type radio controlled flash triggers.


About a month ago, Roger at UK Highland Photography was kind enought to send me a pair of iShoot Sniper radio controlled flash triggers for testing and review.  Although I plan to carry out a 'proper' review at a later date, I took them out with me today whilst walking Kasper the hairy dog.

It took me a while to figure out what the buttons do, and they are a bit fiddly for my sausage fingers, but once you work it out, they're actually very simple little units.  They look a LOT like Pocket Wizards.  When on the camera, they do look impressive and that's no bad thing!

For no particular reason, I took my Sigma 10-20mm lens (very wide angle).  With hindsight, perhaps not the best lens to test the triggers with, but hey-ho.

Just for fun, I tried the trigger off camera about 100 feet away, tucked behind a bush (photo above).  You can barely tell, but that's Kasper sitting in that pool of light.  The Sniper fired the flash flawlessly every single time, no hesitation, no failures. 

In the photo above, the flash was badly balanced with the daylight - the flash is very obvious and a harsh shadow is cast behind Kasper.  I quite like the effect though!  In the photo below, I just opened up the apperture by a couple of stops and powered the flash down, to give a slightly more natural portrait.  The shadow is still there, but would almost disappear if a brollie was used, and the flashgun was higher up.

The last photo is supposed to look as if Kasper has walked into a ray of sunshine!  The flash head was zoomed into the body to give a spotlight effect, also known as narrow flash.

So whilst this is by no means a scientific or exhaustive review, here's a quick summary;

Good Points;

• They look good.  Damn good.  And that makes me look good, non?
• They work. They just do.  Without any fuss, mis-fires or annoying beeping noises.
• They have 15 channels, so uncle Bob won't be setting them off using his compact camera flash half a mile away.
• They 'wake up' sleeping speedlights.  This is certainly true of my SB-800s and SB-600s.  This is a great feature - some of my other (cheaper) triggers don't do this.

Bad Points;

• The hotshoe connectors are a very tight fit.  This isn't too bad on the strobe mounted unit, but I really have to wrench the unit to get it off the camera.  Scary tight and definitely needs addressing -I fear for my camera's delicate hotshoe.
• The + and - signs in the battery case are tiny, barely visible in good light and would be a pain in the neck should the batteries need changing in bad light.
• The instructions are on a par with Nikon's own - nonsensical at best.

So all in all, well put together triggers.  More to follow, once I've had the chance to use them some more!

Bella and Lulu's Shoot

Hairy Dog Photography - Providing dog and pet portraits throughout the North East.  Covering Durham, Sunderland, Newcastle and further afield.  Canine events and on-site printing, studio sittings or beautiful photos of your dog on his favourite walk all available.

Today's shoot was so windy that at times it was hard to stand upright!  This didn't stop Bella and Lu having a fantastic time.  As always, I was travelling light with one camera (D300), two lenses (70-200mm, f2.8, VR and Sigma 10-20mm for a comedy shot or two.  My Lowepro belt and pouches (rocking the batman / ninja look as usual) let me carry strobes, spare batteries, prime lenses and other bits and bobs close to hand.

It's hilarious watching two so very differently sized dogs playing.  Bella is completely fearless and didn't seem to mind at all being bowled over by Lu.

The wind really was blowing a gale and after a short time we dropped down the back of the hill, where it was a lot calmer.  Shooting two dogs together offers unique challenges, especially where the dogs are very different breeds.  I chose mostly to try and get clean shots of the dogs separately.

Aaaw!  How cute is Bella! 

Lu crashing through the undergrowth, straw flying everywhere!  I love the way labs just plough through whatever it is that's in their way!

 Got a STICK!  Happy dog.

Right - she's standing still - QUICK, get a portrait!

You see?  I did warn you there's be a comedy 10mm super wide angle shot...  Despite the crazy wind, harsh sun and fast-changing light, there's definitely a few 'keepers' amongst this set of pics.  Thanks to the owners and thanks also to Bella and Lu, who kept me grinning the whole walk.

Fancy some shots of your dog?  Just visit the Hairy Dog website and hit the contact button once you've had a look around.