Picking on Wiggley

I'd like a challenge — especially working with uncooperative animals.  

Wiggley, one of the two guinea pigs of mine, isn't exactly the perfect pet model. He runs about, faces his butt to the camera, pays more attention to the grass, poops, and does almost everything else but model for the camera.

I shot these one late afternoon. I backlite the subject, I set my white balance to 'daylight', spot metered Wiggley and shot in burstable mode because I didn't just want a silhouette but details of his face (silhouette shots wouldn't be attractive for guinea pigs as you'll just see a blob, especially with Wiggley). No flash was applied.

In post production, I lifted the contrast and mid-tones, and added black points, vibrancy and vignette — very minimal adjustments needed if you shoot it right from the start. Still, I would like to make my images the best that they can be.

Wiggley, a slightly 'dreamy' image.

Wiggley.

Wiggley.

Wiggley,.