It’s that time of year when crazy people like me are offering Christmas Pet Pawtraits again. I mean crazy … it’s fun, in fact it’s often hilarious. But boy oh boy is it crazy. I recently had a friend help out with my two, and while she has seen the picture-perfect images every year, she never quite realized how chaotic it is with my own beloved pooches. So here is the good, the bad and the ugly of it.
The good
I get to meet new people and animals all the time. It’s fun and engaging, it’s also good for business. I also get to see the same cute animals every year. This becomes even more precious as animals who have been coming to me for years are getting elderly. I myself have lost three elderly pets in the last couple of years and their Christmas portraits bring me a giggle and a tear to the eye whenever I see them. Such precious memories.
The bad
The bad? Well, it can be chaos. It can be frustrating when animals don’t want to cooperate. It’s hard on the knees and the back. Sometimes owners get frustrated and mad and they make the animals even more anxious. People need to remember that while it might be fun for us, it doesn’t necessarily make any sense to our pets. There are weird smells and strange environments. They are often asked to do weird things. Some dogs (my Dexter for example) have grown up in front of the camera and think that this is the best fun in the world. They love the “Good Boy “s and the treat, the ear scratches. He loves a bowtie or a bandanna — but I cannot put a Santa hat on him!
Many of the pooches who visit me have been coming for years and remember that it is actually fun and they are a treat to work with. They remember me and give me kisses and cuddles. New pets … well that takes a little more patience and encouragement. I offer a 20-minute mini-session, If I can’t get at least five great shots by then, it’s time to give up. After that amount of time they have lost interest, even the ones having fun.
This year, while Dexter (now five years old) gets super excited when he sees all the Christmas stuff, he has his bandanna on and he’s ready to shoot. Miss Trixi (7 months old and has had a few portraits done) has no idea what is going on and is just feeding off Dexter’s excitement. This makes her misbehave and then become a total distraction for Dexter! I ended up putting the camera on a tripod and setting focus etc. and getting my helper to take the shots, while I wrangled the dogs! Oh, what a morning. What normally takes me 15 minutes, after I have staged the set, took much, much longer. I think it is often easier with other people’s dogs!
The ugly
I’m not going to call anyone out here! But I have had dogs, try to eat stuff they shouldn’t. Meaning someone had to dive into a dog’s mouth to retrieve it — YUCK! I also had a dog urinate on EVERY surface and as many props and costumes in my studio as they could — DOUBLE YUCK! So much cleaning!
Things to remember
- Clean as much as you can between clients
- Remember to use Adaptil spray to keep pets calm
- Animals don’t always behave as you expect
- Animals feed off your energy, so keep it light and fun. If you get stressed (or the owner) the animal will be stressed
- Expect the unexpected
- Sometimes it can be handy to leave collars and leashes on at first and remove in post-processing later
- Make sure most props are not breakable or dangerous to pets (some dogs will try and eat tinsel or think baubles are balls!)
- Just go with the flow, even the most gorgeous photos can result from nervous or shy pets
- Not every pet likes a Santa Hat, Reindeer ears or bandannas
- Don’t forget squeakers and treats
- Get assistants from whoever can help, often the owner
Looking for some more ideas and even camera settings? Check out last year’s Christmas Pets post (or even 2021)!
