Last year, I became a dog owner for the very first time. Thus, this was a whole new experience for me to learn.  One of my biggest challenges was to learn how to train a dog and teach it how to obey my commands. It took me a few months to really get the hang-of-it and to begin controlling my dog.

Naturally, I decided that I wanted to incorporate Pet Photography into my photography business. Now, my training techniques would really be put to the test.  My biggest concern was, “would my new training skills work on other people’s dogs?”.  Thus, I hosted a Pet Photography Portrait session for the very first time.  I invited 4 dog owners to arrive at my studio in 1 hour increments for their Pet Portrait session.  It was a BIG success!  Now, I know that I can control most dogs, especially in studio.

Border Collie

I already knew what type of portraiture I wanted to attempt for Pet Photography, mostly in studio. Studio Photography gives me an advantage over natural lighting because I can photograph any subject at any time of the day and in any weather conditions. One thing that I learned about this first go-around with dog portraits is that it is almost like photographing Toddlers, unpredictable.  However, the benefit of photographing dogs over toddlers is the leash.  You can’t put a leash on a Toddler, (or you really shouldn’t).

Weimaraner

During this first session, I decided to cater to large breed dogs.  Thus, this first group of dogs were in the 40 lbs and over category.  It was very interesting to see how each dog behaves differently toward me versus their owners.  The neat part was to see each dog’s separate personalities.

Overall, this first attempt for Dog Portraits went very smoothly.  I am very pleased with the outcome of this event and learned a lot from it.  Next time, we are going to try medium size breed dogs.