This is an article by our guest author Remys Door who today explains how to get the most original and creative self-portraits with your pet (and from her own experience).
Although before leaving you with her, as I see that you are interested in pet photography, you cannot miss this very complete guide with all the tips and tricks to photograph your pet or those of your clients.
I never would have imagined that being “imprisoned” would be the trigger that would make my creativity explode and elevate it to a new paradigm. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit and the state of alarm sirens began to sound, I remember thinking to myself: “Remy, this is one of those events that will appear in the history books, so you have to try to capture it correctly. somehow in your photographs.”
self knowledge
This is how I began to write a diary accompanied by a self-portrait every day. I had never taken self-portraits before. I had always heard about the complexity of this way of photographing, which involves look inside and know yourself deeply. I guess that’s why I was afraid to enter that world and pose for myself. Normally, the self-portraits that I see in galleries are very intimate, sensual and deep. I love that type of photography but I have never felt identified.
But once again, this eighth art has given me a new lesson: one photographs what is. That’s why, when people ask me how I come up with taking certain photos, I always answer: in the same way that your body takes a breath, it’s something that comes from somewhere I don’t know and I simply capture it.
I strongly believe that we all have a hidden creative being and it is our job to bring it to light, whether singing, painting, playing instruments, dancing… There are a hundred thousand ways to express yourself creatively. For me, creativity is closely linked to our inner child. If you listen to great artists talk about their work and look at how they explain it, you will realize that they are just playing and having fun.
The idea
So that’s what I dedicated myself to in quarantine: having fun. But this also requires a work of looking for ideas, shaping them and achieving a good result. I don’t want to deceive you, my first self-portraits were taken in my underwear. I thought it was the right way to portray yourself.
That was my first mistake since, when talking about art, There is no right way to do things, only your way. When I saw the result of those first images I thought: Remy, that’s not you.
Scenarios and observation
So I changed my strategy and dedicated myself to collecting ideas taking into account the light and the scenarios available in my humble home. I made friends with tripod that I had never used and started shooting.
My first photo for the quarantine diary was this.
Pay attention to the details
I saw that the wall of my kitchen was pretty and just entered light on the one hand. The garbage can too. added context to the scene and something told me that my dog Gordo was going to give the image a fun touch.
The blackboard was in the studio collecting dust and when I came across it by chance I thought it would look great with it. message that we all felt inside in those surreal moments at the beginning of the pandemic. I had the socks in my drawer and I bought them years ago but I had never worn them, I don’t know why but just when I was going to take the photo, I remembered them and thought they could give a fresh air to photography.
First I posed sitting down, at the same height as Gordo but I felt that something did not fit in the portrait, so I stood up and saw that this is how he I gave all the prominence to my dog, to the socks and to the message. The final image is edited with a default Own, but does not have any retouching.
To insist
Another of my favorites was the bathroom. I had always thought that the tiles had a very nice color to take photos and I had on my pending list, to photograph someone there. I never imagined that in the end it would be Gordo and I who would act as models.
I wish there had been someone recording the making of because it was very funny to take the photo while I covered myself so that nothing could be seen and smiled, and Gordo remained stoic looking at the camera with foam on his head. from this scene I did like ten takes.
The color of the towel on my head creates a contrast very pretty with the blue tiles and it was a fluke. It was hanging in the bathroom and when I put it on and saw it in the photo, I thought that the color had been a success.
Try as many times as necessary
Get your pet’s attention
Many of you have asked me on Instagram how I manage to make Gordo pose with such professionalism. The truth is that it has been a real discovery for me. Whenever I’ve taken pictures of him, he wouldn’t stop still. Although it is true that I have always done them outdoors where he has many stimuli to sniff out. At home he is a very calm dog and sometimes I think he even understands me when I speak to him because he obeys me a lot. When I started taking self-portraits with him, I was amazed at how well he looked at the camera, and then I realized that he was because it makes a strange noise when firing that catches his attention.
To get the final image, I just edited the color with a default own and retouched in photoshop to delete the bidet that appeared in the lower left. My bathroom is very small and I had to manage so that, with my objective 35mm everything looks good.
However, some other photos I have do have a more elaborate retouching because it was impossible for me to get Gordo to stay in one position and me in another.
Merge two images if necessary
For example, this image is the result of two photographs that I have later put together in photoshop.
Two stories in one image
I did not move the tripod at any time. In the first photo I was alone in the bathroom and in the second Gordo looking at the door that leads to the street. To get him like that, I stood on the other side of the door and told him to sit down, I closed the door and for a few seconds he stayed in that position and gave me time to achieve the scene.
then in photoshop, i put the photos together in two layers and erased half of one layer for Gordo to appear, the I combined and I used the patch tool to homogenize the dividing line.
Y voilathere you have the result.
Observe with a new eye
What I like most about this photo is that I knew how to see her and never before had fallen into this composition. It’s funny how we take for granted that we know every corner of our home. We have gone through them yawning in search of coffee, dressed to go to work, with a fever and pajamas, in the dark or happy after a few drinks at dawn. We know how to find with our eyes closed where the light switch is or the distance in steps from the hall to our room, and yet there are still scenarios that we had overlooked.
If that happens in a tiny place like our house, imagine the infinity of compositions that we ignore in our own neighborhood. To take good photos you don’t have to look for paradisiacal places, but learn to look pretty in the most disastrous corners.
I love the images that tell more than one story And for that, this is one of my favorites.
Tell something about yourself
Another of the photos that I would like to print and always have with me because of how fun it seems to me was this one.
Tell about you
I’ve been climbing for about a year and it’s one of my favorite hobbies. I knew I had to take a photo pretending I was doing it, but honestly, I never thought it would look so good.
This image is the result of two photos because, as has happened to me on other occasions, in this one there was no way that Gordo was sitting there looking up with his helmet on. He put up with me a lot in quarantine. So in the first image I’m alone, and in the second I put him and I was right in front of him with a candy. Then I put them together in photoshop and this was the final result.
study the light
My last week in phase zero I had already been locked up for about fifty days and I was beginning to feel that my creativity was waning and I was beginning to worry that I would not be able to continue creating graphic files that they were not mere copies of each other. It was then that I noticed that in the afternoon, in my living room, sunlight seeped through the curtains and created the background you see in this image.
Light as a great ally
So I started playing with him. First I took photos without the book and without Gordo. I wanted to investigate what lights and shadows it created in me. I wasn’t convinced that my whole face could be seen, so I picked up a book and started playing.
I had a hard time finding the right moment because Gordo did nothing but lie down and then he did not appear on the scene. But suddenly, he yawned and I was lucky to catch him and that he was well reflected in the photo.
Plan to ensure better results
And finally, I couldn’t not tell you about the farewell photo.
Planning, a safe bet to succeed
The day before moving on to phase one, I took this photo of myself imitating the Beatles. I had been thinking for days about giving a good farewell to this project from which I have learned and experienced so much. My “Diary of an inmate” deserved a good ending.
It occurred to me that, since all my images were locked up at home, the last one should represent going back out into the world. This is the street below my house. For days I watched her because I knew that when I went there with the tripod, I had to act fast and take the photo quickly because cars could come and I didn’t want them to think I was crazy or the police to call me out.
So the last day before the phase change I got up at five in the morning and I got ready to take the photo just as the sun began to light up the streets. It was a difficult photo to take because I was nervous and I knew it was the last of the whole project and I wanted it to look good. The end result is the composition of two images. One of me walking and one of Gordo doing it.
Enjoy
Now when I watch it I get a kind of nostalgia because despite being confined and having spent so much time alone, it has been a stage that I have enjoyed a lot accompanied by Gordo and all the creativity that was inside.
look for creativity
I have learned that being creative It has nothing to do with waiting for inspiration to hit you. but with searching tirelessly in every corner of your house and yourself.
The team
Besides the tripod, the camera I used for this project is a Nikon D750 with the 35mm f1.4 Sigma Art lens (here you can see more recommended lenses for portrait photography).
Nikon has an app for…