Photographing Hana the German Shepherd dog on rocks for Up Ups wasn’t my original plan. If you read the last post about Dogscapes – photographing dogs in landscapes – you know my original plan was to photograph Hana with the view off Preachers Rock at sunrise as the background. Alas, despite 4 AM alarms, 2.5 hour drives, and mountain hikes at sunrise – heavy cloud cover foiled our efforts, but I wasn’t going to let a few clouds keep us from creating a beautiful photograph.

My biggest challenge with this image was keeping Hana from getting lost when photographin her on the rocks. With Hana perched on the rocks they are very close to being on the same focal plane – meaning the rocks would also be in focus creating a lot of very in focus texture close to my subject. 

With careful post processing work I decreased the sharpness of the rocks, enhanced the leading line to Hana and removed Hana’s bright pink leash. I also created a vignette that brings extra light to Hana amking her face the star of the image. 

This image earned a Top 10 placement in Up Ups and our final feedback:  “There’s a lovely subdued mood in this image, really elevated by the misty weather and the dog’s calm and serene pose and expression.”

Hana the German Shepherd dog on rocks wasn’t my first attempt at dogs on rocks in the 2022 Unleashed Challenge. I also photographed Shark the Staffordshire Terrier up on rocks in Suwanee, GA. Although I ultimately chose to use Shark’s image for Soul Searcher. 
Scroll through to see an adorable bully dog posing on rocks.

This blog is a part of series of blogs from pet photographer’s across the globe! This week we’re featuring some of our favorite sessions. Next up Terri, photographer at Terri J Photography highlights a recent senior dog photo shoot in Toronto.

Then just keep clicking through until you land right back her with me & Hana.