A writer

Did a few portraits of a writer saturday, it sounds like he is going to use it for some press material, maybe one will go in a book - how cool could that be?

Am starting to wonder, if its weird putting a What Up Dog logo on more serious stuff like this.......? I didnt really know I would love people photography so much, when starting. Still love pet photography though, no question about that!


Anyhow, he mailed me some images he got from another photographer, and was really unhappy with them. He thought he looked goofy and didn't feel it looked like him. So I did my best to try to capture him the way I see him - he is a very kind and friendly guy, handsome and smart. I hope I've succeded!


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For some reason, the best images were at the same spot, maybe I should delete on of them? (Number 1, 2 or 5).

They look good to me , and with the name maybe you could shorten it to WUD Photography ;-) but honestly I think your what up dog is catchy and easy to remember

Mnjarh, not wud.

Am deleting number 2, I think. His expression is to close to number 1 but not as good.

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Nice shots. I'm going through the same mental gymnastics as I decide whether to stick with "Backdoor Hippie Photography" as I look to go into business. I've avoided using my name because my brother is a long standing pro news photographer in the area, and I don't want to confuse things since our last name isn't exactly common. But I also think that the "brand" I've adopted for myself as a writer and musician may not translate well when offering, say, professional product or real estate photography since "Hippie' term doesn't automatically instill an air of confidence or professionalism. I'm leaning towards either just using my name, with my brother's permission, or branding as BDH Photography, with the latter being most likely. So yeah, I understand your line of thinking. My take is that it's probably more off-putting to the prospective client than the one who has already hired you, so if you're going on word of mouth then the name likely won't matter.

BackdoorHippie said:

Nice shots. I'm going through the same mental gymnastics as I decide whether to stick with "Backdoor Hippie Photography" as I look to go into business.

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BDH Photography or some collection of the initials. Small start ups do it all the time when they have to "grow up" from just for fun to hey this just might work. BDS Suspension (they make outstanding off-road suspensions for vehicles) started out as a group of guys making their own suspension stuff. In time they decided to go into business but didn't want to lose what they had started so they had to grow up and Big D#^k Suspension became BDS Suspension. The old timers know them from the old days and new people know them as the all grown up version of themselves.

I also vote for #1 and for the name change to WUD. Great work!

I like #3 in a composition sense. Not sure I love the hue but I do like the feel. You've captured the sense of the man nicely and in a more personal way than the other images.

wud said:

Am starting to wonder, if its weird putting a What Up Dog logo on more serious stuff like this.......? I didnt really know I would love people photography so much, when starting. Still love pet photography though, no question about that!

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​Since you've mentioned possibly changing your name/logo, I've often wondered why you went with What Up Dog. Does it stand for something? Just wondering why you didn't choose What's Up Dog. You could always shorten it to What Up if you aren't sure about keeping the word Dog in your name.

Like the others mentioned, even going with WUD is a great idea. You could use What Up Dog when you deal with dog photography and WUD for people photos.

I like number 3 and I'm not sure WUD is a great idea myself for your human work. It' does sound like a user name on a blog. A fun persona for anonymity.

hark said:

​Since you've mentioned possibly changing your name/logo, I've often wondered why you went with What Up Dog. Does it stand for something? Just wondering why you didn't choose What's Up Dog. You could always shorten it to What Up if you aren't sure about keeping the word Dog in your name.

Like the others mentioned, even going with WUD is a great idea. You could use What Up Dog when you deal with dog photography and WUD for people photos.

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Its just slang - what up, daaawg.. Not many actually say "what's" (unless your at an english test ).
Well, if I got 2 different 'names', I might as well use a totally different for people. Hmm, I'm not sure.

dramtastic said:

I like number 3 and I'm not sure WUD is a great idea myself for your human work. It' does sound like a user name on a blog. A fun persona for anonymity.

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Yeah, hmm..


Well, he is not completely happy with the images, he think he is "curving his back" (you know what I mean?). Maybe he does to much but I thought not to make him stand like a girl, you know, chest foreward.

If anyone wants to see the images from the other photographer, I can send a pm.

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Liking number three also. It doesn't look like his back is curved. More of just his head tilted back a bit. But for me it works because it gives me the impression he is about to throw his head back in laughter.

I also like the bright inner light that his eyes seem to project. You can see a joy in there.

I read a ton and could easily see this image used over top the authors bio. . All too often you get a look at the authors pic and for the life of me most have an almost stern look. Or one of those cheesy poses where you just know some was there with a camera going "Goooood....now hold it! Smile!"

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Deezey said:

Liking number three also. It doesn't look like his back is curved. More of just his head tilted back a bit. But for me it works because it gives me the impression he is about to throw his head back in laughter.

I also like the bright inner light that his eyes seem to project. You can see a joy in there.

I read a ton and could easily see this image used over top the authors bio. . All too often you get a look at the authors pic and for the life of me most have an almost stern look. Or one of those cheesy poses where you just know some was there with a camera going "Goooood....now hold it! Smile!"

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We met in the middle and I gave number 4 a crop, so now he is happy.

Spot on, Deezey, thats exactly what he didn't like from the first photographer. Looked fake, like you say it, and he didn't feel it showed much about him. He was a little nervous, so we talked and laughed a lot during the session, and I had him moving around to prevent shoulders up against the neck.