Sam – 6 year old Basset Hound

Basset Hounds have buckets full of character; their over sized long ears, crinkled ankles and droopy eyes and joules all add to the personality that shines through the depth of their soul. Sam was adorable and such a special character Rachael knew he was the perfect candidate to be photographed wearing her Grandfather’s treasured Houndstooth Hat. The hat fitted Sam perfectly, and even emphasised how droopy Basset hound’s eyes are by pushing down slightly on the loose skin above Sam’s eye, giving Sam a distinguished but rather dopey expression. Sam was the perfect gentleman and happily sat for his portrait waiting patiently for the morsels of dried liver that were delivered directly to his mouth in between shots.

This image of Sam was published in Rachael’s book 101 Salivations: For the Love of Dogs

Sam was photographed by Rachael using her 4x5 inch Toyo View Camera with Polaroid Pos/Neg B/W Film, against a painted canvas backdrop, using a large Octo Elinchrom Softbox Studio Flash.

* This image is from Rachael’s earlier work, which were all photographed using a Large Format 4x5 inch Film Camera, and occasionally a 8x10 inch Polaroid Camera. Rachael used a very shallow depth of field when photographing with film cameras, this gives these images a softer more painterly quality when printed, the prints still look stunning in all sizes and make magnificent Art pieces, they just don’t appear quite as crisp as an image created on a digital camera.

Rachael recommends this image to be framed using a White, Oak, Black or Dark Wood Frame with or without a white border, or as a canvas with or without a White, Oak, Black or Dark Wood float frame surround.