What’s a workshop?

During a workshop you will have the opportunity to learn photography, here in a specific field: dog photography. It can be individual or in a group. Whether you are a beginner, amateur or professional you can participate in a workshop. My trainings always take place in 3 parts: theory, practice and post-production.

Theory: understanding how to photograph dogs

During a workshop you will be guided to learn how to create authentic and captivating dog portraits. The first part of the weekend is dedicated to the theory course. Once everyone has introduced themselves, I start my interactive presentation. I’m not a big fan of talking to myself for 4 hours, so I like to do some quizzes with you, answering your questions. We’ll explore everything from composition, settings and equipment, natural light, poses, expressions, and more. This first part is perfect to start setting up your camera and understand how I work with my clients during a shoot. There is a lot to see during this part, because there is a lot more to taking pictures of dogs than you might think!

Here are a few pictures I took during my workshop in Belgium, maybe you will have the chance to meet Laos, my sweet companion.

Practical part: organised photoshoots to improve your skills

After answering any questions you may have, the practical outdoor part follows with our models specially called for the occasion. I will explain how to apply the different things seen in the morning, how to position yourself, what angle to use at what time, how to choose the background, etc.

During the shootings you will se exactly how I work with owners and their dogs to capture the best portraits possible. Each dog will be different in size, personality, colour, so that you can experiment different kind of situations. After a few tries, I look at your results and give you a few tips to help you go further and correct possible mistakes. My aim is to accompany you as much as possible. I will share with you my best tips for successful portraits, whatever your equipment.

Post-processing: accentuating the atmosphere

The workshop ends with the post-processing of the images taken during practice. I show you how I retouch my images using Lightroom, Camera Raw and Photoshop with one of the photos I was able to take with you. The purpose of this part is to show you my own style of retouching which will aim to bring out the subject, accentuate the mood, remove unwanted elements from the image and export the photos correctly. I use many tools in Photoshop to edit perfectly the colours, the light and the dog. Because some techniques are difficult to remember, I always send the video of editing we had together.