The Wilson family got more than they bargained for when their Hanover High School senior Daniel signed up for the “Surf and Sato” March Intensive program. Each spring the high school in Hanover, NH (home of Dartmouth College) offers a week of out of the ordinary educational experiences, everything from analyzing classic horror films to hut to hut cross-country ski treks to intensive Shakespeare, drama trips to NYC, college tours in Boston and a trip to Puerto Rico to help with the street dog problem and maybe try a bit of surfing.
Rumor has it that Daniel was under strict instructions to resist all attempts of adorableness and not to return with a puppy but then Ronnie’s cuteness prevailed and after a week of being surrounded by lovable puppies, one managed to come back to New Hampshire. Luckily I was able to persuade the family to bring Ronnie over for a modeling session.
What is a Sato?
Sato is the name for mutt i Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has a large population of stray street and beach dogs. Some estimates put the population of stray dogs at 500,000.
Dead Dog Beach is located on the South-East coast of the island. A dumping ground, it is known for its stray dog population, and the abuse that has occurred on the isolated beach including gang rituals, target practice, and cars running over helpless dogs and puppies.
Dogs are dumped here everyday. The Sato Project, a rescue group founded by New Yorker Chrissy Beckles, is their only source of fresh water and food, and rescues them as their resources allow it. Dead Dog Beach is one of the many beaches of the island overran by stray dogs. (source: http://www.sophiegamand.com/deaddogbeach/)
From The Sato Project Org – Satos are usually small dogs under 30lbs. The majority have terrier in them so they tend to be incredibly smart and quick to learn. The street or beach is a very hard life for a dog and the majority do not make it past their second birthday. Nature seems to have sensed this and females are giving birth to increasingly large litters of puppies.
You can see Puerto Rico dogs who need a second chance on PetFinder – https://www.petfinder.com/pet-search?shelter_id=PR04
About the Photo Shoot
Being a puppy, Ronnie was quite the handful as a modeling subject. I’ve grown accustomed to Tiki the Westie ability to sit for a very long time, knowing that a treat is coming at some point. At this point Tiki anticipates treats when ever I make a move towards my studio strobe lights. During the photo sessions for the book “The Quotable Westie” Tiki was so good I could set him up on a chair and then remember that I forgot the SD card or prop or something, leave the room for a few minutes and he would still be stilling there patiently.
I’ve dealt with puppies before but its been a while. When I photographed Max, Pete, and Jeanie, my main camera was a micro-four thirds camera, a Panasonic Lumix G3 which had a handy feature for photographing moving objects – an LCD screen in which you could touch a spot on the screen and it would focus and fire the shutter.
With my Canon 6D and its minimal focal points (only nine) I found myself having trouble getting little Ronnie in focus. I also made the mistake of starting out on the tripod. Not good for a guy in constant motion. But I did manage to get some good shots.
The other challenge I had was too narrow depth of field. The Canon 6D is a full frame camera which has a narrower depth of field than a micro four thirds camera like the Panasonic G series.
In order to nail the focus on the eyes with a constantly moving subject like this little puppy Ronnie, I had to shot a lot of shots. I first tried pre-focusing on a certain spot on this antique high chair I was using as a prop. But the entire first set of photos were ruined by the focus being off ever so slightly.
I end up re-shooting the entire scene later with with the studio lights cranked up to maximum and the aperture increase to f16 in order to make sure I got his cute little face in sharp focus.
I also started to abandoned my carefully composed set ups and took the camera off the tripod so I could move the camera main focal point to the dogs eye, fire and worry about composition later with cropping.
Some Tips
A few things I learned that worked in this latest dog photo session.
- With puppies, be prepared for puppies. They don’t know how to stay put, they need potty breaks, they are likely to climb out of what ever you put them in, and they are going to tire out and fall asleep on you at some point.
- Safety – work with an assistant and try to create an environment like a basket with soft towels in the bottom to help contain the puppy.
- Use chew toys, bones or a bit of peanut butter on a the edge of a basket to keep them interested and occupied.
- Use squeaker toys or a weird noises to get their attention. Don’t be afraid to sound like a wild animal or a complete wacko to get some great expressions.
- Have plenty of paper towels handy.
- Limit the number of assistants in the studio so the dog doesn’t get too distracted.
- Shoot with a fast shutter speed and be prepared for motion. I don’t recommend a tripod unless the dog can sit still.
- Get on their level. I used a small coffee table to raise the puppy up but watch that they don’t try to jump off.