Waltonpets Furtography Session: Buddy

"Buddy" portrait at 250mm focal length; f/5.6; 1/160 sec.; ISO 320.

Monday, 9:06 AM
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​“Buddy” was a handsome, young American Bulldog mix turned in by his owner on Saturday, January 28, 2017. They only had him two weeks, but were caught by their landlord for violating a no-pets policy, so he ended up at animal control. Buddy was a bit nervous at first in the kennel, but really opened up and was a happy boy outside. He sat instantly on command, making his photo session just a bit easier. 

First thing Monday morning it was Buddy’s turn for what I call a “full workup.” I first took him down to the exam room for a blood draw for his heartworm test (negative!), microchip scan, vaccination, deworming and flea medicine. Next, we went outside for a photo session. Buddy struck some handsome poses for the camera and will hopefully attract some adoption/rescue attention.

​This was my first shelter pet photography session with the new lens. My go-to lens I’ve used for the outdoor dog shots for several years now, the Nikon 70-300 mm bit the dust last week and I had to replace it. But instead of getting the identical lens, I decided to try the Nikon 28-300 mm. This will give a much wider range of focal length options, but hopefully not sacrifice any image quality. 

​I took five shots in the same focal length range as the old lens, from 78 mm out to 250 mm. All looked really good and sharp. Definitely no sacrifice of image quality at the extended focal lengths. 

Next, three of the shots were at more wide angle focal lengths (28mm to 36mm). I haven’t done much wide angle work with the dogs as I never liked the results too much. However, these images of Buddy looked pretty stately.  To get the images, I laid down just a few feet from Buddy and shot up toward his chin. The images make him look heroic. The only problem is that they may make him appear larger or taller than life. The images were a bit soft at the wider angle focal length, but still good quality.

​All in all, I’m still not happy I had to use up money I'd been saving for the Sigma 150-600 mm lens, but I am pleased with the quality of the Nikon 28-300 mm lens. I’m especially happy that I can get both wide angle and zoom shots without carrying two cameras or switching lenses.

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"Buddy" was photographed for Walton County Animal Control, Georgia, and posted on the shelter's website, www.waltonpets.net, for adoption/rescue. ​Buddy was finally adopted on February 3, 2017!