“I’d love a photography session, but my dog is too manic”
Is this you? If you’ve ever wanted a photo session for your dog, but have put it off because you thought that your dog would never sit still long enough, or were worried because they can’t be let off lead, then think again – a photo session is definitely on the cards for you and your pooch.
There are a couple of myths floating about when it comes to dog photography – let me shed some light on them for you…
Myth #1 – My dog can’t be photographed properly because he needs to stay on a lead
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At my sessions, the dogs’ safety is always the number one priority, and sometimes that means that dogs have to stay on leads. But it’s honestly no biggie. With the help of Photoshop and some nifty editing skills, those leads just disappear and in the final image, you’d never even know they were there. Take the image above for example. This session took place on North Beach in Porthcawl; Poppy (on the right) wasn’t really happy meeting other dogs, so she had to be kept on her lead when there were other dogs close by. For this particular image both Poppy & Beti were on leads – you can’t tell though, can you?
Myth #2 – My dog will need a perfect sit-stay
Another huge misconception is that dogs need to have a perfect sit and stay in order to make the most out of a photography session. Now, don’t get me wrong, a good sit-stay is absolutely fan-bleeding-tastic, but it’s not, I repeat NOT, a deal breaker for a session. The majority of dogs I photograph are wrigglers – they’re all over the place and in to absolutely everything. But you know what, that is just their personality and to be honest, it’s their personality that makes the image! Pip (pictured above and below left) is a prime example of a wriggly little dog – he had an absolute whale of time on Rhossili Beach taking in all the sights, sound and smells, but with a little bit of good old fashioned bribery (in Pip’s case, this was his ball) I captured the perfect sit-stay image of him; he looks like butter wouldn’t melt doesn’t he 🙂 All it takes is time and patience.
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I also personally love to squeeze some action shots into a photography session, and guess what?…wriggly dogs make fantastic action models. Pip (above left) was all over the place on Rhossili beach and having an absolute whale of a time while he was at it. The same goes for Blodyn (above right) who I met at Whitford on the North Gower; she absolutely loved chasing her ball at full speed. They’re both proof that a perfect sit-stay isn’t totally necessary.
So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that really any dog can have beautiful images made of them – it just takes a bit of understanding, patience and, sometimes, some Photoshop magic 🙂