Guinea pigs

Jeanie and Carmela the guinea pigs eating their spinach | 5D Mark II, 70-200 f2.8, 1/50, f10, ISO 800
I need to make something clear: I worship our two pet guinea pigs, Jeanie and Carmela, and love taking photographs of them, to the point where they just have to be the most photographed rodents in South London.

I’ve shot these pigs in a similar way before but over the weekend I decided to go again, this time with some better lighting, using a couple of off-camera flashes: the 580EX II behind a shoot-through umbrella high and camera-right, and the 430EX II on a stand feathering towards the back of the pigs on the left.

At feeding time, I know I’ve got a captive subject for about ten minutes as they devour their favourite vegetable - spinach - giving me enough time to play with a couple lighting set-ups.

As well as the light, I was also interested in trying different developing techniques to see what kind of look I could get.

These are the first four images, and there are more to come.
Jeanie peers from behind Carmela | 5D Mark II, 70-200 f2.8, 1/80, f8, ISO 800
With this one (below) I was going for a postcard/calendar look with the lighting and post production. Carmela’s (on left) awkward pose wouldn’t get her much modelling work.
Jeanie and Carmela at the food bowl | 5D Mark II, 70-200 f2.8, 1/125, f6.3, ISO 800
Jeanie at the spinach bowl | 5D Mark II, 70-200 f2.8, 1/125, f6.3, ISO 800