“Never work with children or animals” says the old adage. Personally I couldn’t agree less!
People often ask slightly nervously whether it would be ok to include their dog in the photoshoot and my answer is always the same - ‘absolutely it is!’.*
Here are my 6 reasons why you absolutely need to bring your dog along with you:
1 They can bring a touch of chaos to the proceedings
OK, that might sound like a slightly odd thing to say but hear me out. The dog isn’t going to feel nervous about having their photo taken, or worried about how they look. They will behave just like normal and this will relax everyone else and mean you all behave like normal too and hey presto! I can capture the real you.
2 They are part of the family
They are with you every day, and live in your home so doesn’t that mean they are part of the family too? If you were to look at a picture of the family without them. wouldn’t it feel like something was missing?
3 It’s a great opportunity to get a portrait of them too
The sad truth is that they won’t be around forever so don’t you want to make sure you have some beautiful images of them to remember? If the kids are very small, they might not have clear memories of the dog as they grow up so isn’t this a good opportunity to capture some images?
4 The connections can be so special
Isn’t it often the case that the dog and kids are ‘partners in crime’? There’s something so incredibly special about the bond that can develop from the moment a new baby arrives home from hospital and grows as they grow.
5 They can just be so damn photogenic!
Well, they can, can’t they?!!
6 Well, because selfishly, I love dogs!
OK, so I appreciate that you aren’t here to entertain me, but I adore dogs and aren’t allowed one at home so this is always a wonderful opportunity to hang out with someone else’s four legged friend.
If you’d like to arrange a shoot with (or without) a dog in tow, drop me a line and we can have a chat.
*the only exception to this is if we are going somewhere that restricts dogs, such as certain beaches in the summer, or parks, nature reserves etc that don’t allow them. Just something to be mindful of.
