We have met so many of your pups this engagement photo season, so I wanted to take a minute to write a little blog post about what we learned after doing a handful a photo sessions with our client’s & their pets!
Now, before you ask – we want you to know that the answer as to whether or not you can bring your pup to your engagement session, maternity session, family photos, etc. will always be YES. We LOVE meeting your pups because we are full believers that these pets are part of your family & they should absolutely be included in your photos! Also, I am a crazy dog lady.
With that being said – here are 5 tips that we recommend if you are thinking about bringing along your dog to a session.
Bring a puppy-sitter
Ask a friend, sister, brother, mom, dad, anyone that your dog likes, to come with you to the session. If someone isn’t available, no worries. There are two of us – so if I need to give your pup some attention and belly rubs while Konnor is snapping a few photos of just the two of you, I will happily do so because I probably already am. But it makes it more helpful if someone is there to take you dog for a quick walk while we have some free time to capture the two of you.
Bring treats!
Especially if your pup is food driven. Treats make it a lot easier to get photos of your pup looking at the camera! & we can reward & spoil them, of course!
Have high expectations for the quality of your photos – but low expectations for the behavior of your pup
We total understand that sometimes your dog just doesn’t want to sit… or listen… or even look at the camera. But that is their personality & if they aren’t cooperating – that’s okay. Don’t stress yourself out making sure that your pup is looking at the camera or sitting pretty – just enjoy the photo session & enjoy the memories you’re making with your pup.
Pick a low traffic shoot location
We truly lucked out this season with either low traffic parks, taking photos on our client’s beautiful properties, or just having well behaved, non-distracted dogs. However, we know from experience that if we took our dog to a really busy park on a Saturday, like Lock Ridge Park in Alburtis, where there might be 5 other photography sessions going on at the same time or people walking their dogs, etc. our pup Stella (@pittielittleprincess) would not be able to sit still for one second for a photo. If you don’t know where you want to meet up for your photo session – let us know & we will do the research!
HAVE FUN!
& relax! & totally bring your dog… & a puppy-sitter!
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