A boy and his dog = a circus

[Bob Bissett]

Looking for suggestions...

The new D70 is here. Have had very little time to study the manual and practice with it, but took it on a shoot yesterday as a backup. Used the FinePix 3800 mostly which I know and trust. Took only a few frames with the D70. An eight year old boy and his one year old dog Max. Good grief! That dog was incapable of holding still. It took three people to get him to sit by the boy and then only a few seconds at a time. Most pictures show him as a blur. I made a composite from parts of three photos, the best pose of the boy, the best of the dog and the boy's hand cropped from another photo. I think I can make it work. It occurred to me the dog could be drugged under the supervision of a vet. Anybody tried that?

[Mike McCarty]

Bob,

Next time up your ISO and/or increase your shutter speed as if you were shooting an action shot. This will increase your chances of stopping the dogs movement.

Try putting the dog on a leash and tying it to the boys ankle. After a while the dog will settle down. You can edit the leash out later if need be.

Advise the boy not to react to the dog but only to the camera and your direction. In times like this, or, when an adult is posed with a small child, the adult will try and control the child's every movement thus spoiling their own pose. Best to advise them to ignore the pose of the dog or child as if they were not in shot at all.

[Bob Bissett]

Mike...

Good ideas. I realize I was not prepared for this situation. A leash would solve most of the problems.

By the way...those twins! What great subject matter. Beautiful girls. I think you have five star painting potentially. I prefer the outdoor poses...seems more appropriate for their youth, energy, etc. Maybe both girls holding the same flower?