Pet Photography – Lessons from my First Assignment

The quote, “never work with animals or children”, is attributed to W. C. Fields. Apparently, he actually got along well with children; I take the words to refer to the occasional unpredictability of, and difficulty in managing, both animals and children. Not always of course, and many adults are equally (if not, more so) unpredictable and hard to manage.

The words of the quote ran through my head during my first pet photography assignment, a series of dog portraits at a Christmas fair. I love animals (and have spent a number of years working very happily with children), so the quote really doesn’t apply to me in any sense of liking neither children nor animals. However, as I watched another dog relieve itself against my backdrop, I did wonder whether my love of animals would survive the photo session.

The first lesson of the day was understanding how the dogs and their owners would work together. This was something I had not put much thought into before the session. Some dogs were dropped to the studio and left with me. Others arrived with owners who wanted to stay and watch the session. Some fell between the two and were left in the studio while their owners exited the room to watch through the window. I was fine with any combination; my mission was to ensure the dogs enjoyed the shoot, and I captured pictures which the owners liked. However, I found quickly that the hardest to manage were the dogs whose owners watched through the window. Unable to interact directly with their owners, dogs tended to become distracted, wanting to get to their people rather than listen to anything I asked of them.

The day was an enjoyable one, with some good results. It also provided one of many steps on the learning curve which I mentioned in my last post. I felt well-prepared for the event, and had packed extras such as a bottle of spray cleaner and plenty of kitchen towels, alongside the spare batteries and model consent forms. Dog treats were left at home; one of my own dogs has an extremely sensitive stomach and I wouldn’t wish to cause other stomachs to overspill following administration of an ill-advised treat. I made careful notes about which dog was which, so that I could be certain that the correct photographs made their way to the owners. The squeaker I had extracted from one of my own dogs’ toys (I know, bad parent!) proved useful in attracting attention when taking photographs, but also led some of the dogs to rush towards the camera, hoping to play. I now leave the squeaker at home with the dog treats when I photograph pets.

While collecting details of the dogs and their owners, I made notes on learning points from the session. My brain can be frustratingly porous and what isn’t written down may well be forgotten quickly. I wrote about what to take, and what to leave behind; how much interaction the owners should aim to have during the shoot; the information I needed to collect for each animal; how to tailor the generic model release form to be more personal to me and my business, while retaining the requisite legal elements; and small points like the importance of asking people to write in capitals when completing contact information paperwork.

I continue to develop as I progress. From every shoot, I aim to take with me some simple lessons learned which serve to create an even better experience next time, both at the shoot and when processing the resultant images. The learning never stops, and I would not want it to.