Alan Hess - Pet Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots

From Snapshots to Great Shots

Alan Hess

Pet Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots
Alan Hess

Peachpit Press
www.peachpit.com

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Peachpit Press is a division of Pearson Education.

Copyright 2015 by Peachpit Press
All images copyright 2015 by Alan Hess

Project Editor: Valerie Witte
Senior Production Editor: Lisa Brazieal
Development and Copyeditor: Anne Marie Walker
Proofreader: Patricia Pane
Composition: WolfsonDesign
Indexer: James Minkin
Cover Image: Alan Hess
Cover Design: Aren Straiger
Interior Design: Mimi Heft

Notice of Rights

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact .

Notice of Liability

The information in this book is distributed on an As Is basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.

Trademarks

From Snapshots to Great Shots is a trademark, in the U.S. and/or other countries, of Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.

ISBN-13: 978-0-133-95355-8
ISBN10: 0-133-95355-6

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed and bound in the United States of America

To Nadra: Thank you for all your love and support.

And to Odessa and Hobbes: The reasons I started photographing pets in the first place.

I want to thank all the pets who patiently modeled for me for this book. Many of the animals in these pages were photographed while looking for their forever homes. I truly hope theyll all find good homes soon.

Thanks to all the pet owners who allowed their pets to be photographed for this project: Luna, Celeste, Audrey, Tony, the Torwicks, Kerry, Carl, Lori, Bill, Lisa, Trevor, Melissa, Scott, Salem, John, Candice, Gigi, Rochelle, Christie, Judith, Sherri, Richard, Paige, Olivia, Kira, Donna, Sheldon, Ashley, Fenella, Kathy, Matt, and Cameronwithout you this book would not have been possible.

My gratitude goes out to Audrey for her assistance during many of the shoots. Describing what I was doing while we were photographing the pets made it much easier to then put all the information together to create this book.

Thank you to the team at Peachpit for their hard work and amazingly quick turnaround during the writing process. I could not have done this without Valerie Witte, Anne Marie Walker, Lisa Brazieal, Patricia Pane, and WolfsonDesign, as well as Ted Waitt, who thought this project was something that I should do. I owe a great deal to the Peachpit marketing team, including Scott Cowlin, Sara Jane Todd, and Sheila Lease for all your hard work in getting this title out there and into the hands of photographers.

A special thanks to Brad Mathews for putting me in touch with Dr. Jeff, who took the time to answer my questions.

Finally, a huge thanks to my wife for her love, support, and patience. It is not easy to deal with me when Im writing a book. Thank you.

Alan Hess
San Diego, CA
July, 2014

Pets are tons of fun to photograph, and their distinct personalities are revealed in every image. But capturing a great shot of your pet can be a challenge. I wrote this book to help you meet that challenge and succeed in turning your snapshots into great shots.