I think the folk trying to follow along will appreciate knowing that you're using your flash off camera and the additional detail of that set-up. You might also consider sharing your flash settings; manual 1/64? 1/128? ...or were you shooting TTL and compensating down?

To take some of the hard detail off your shots consider playing with High Speed Sync so that you can open up your aperture (but use a faster shutter to keep your darkened background). That will soften up your shots a bit. I like to use a small softbox (24") or a small shoot through umbrella (if I have an assistant) in my portable kit. That makes the light less specular and I like the more gradual fall off it provides.

I think the folk/dogs you're shooting will be very happy! Great job.

Last edited by ChrisF; 12/20/20.