I have been trying to set aside some time each month to work on personal photography projects – and what better project that photographing my dogs in the studio? Well problem no.1 is that neither of my dogs enjoy being photographed. Do you remember Flapjack, the jack russell I grew up with? He loved having his picture taken, he would even pose for pictures. Chewbacca and Leia are the complete opposite. I can bride Chewbacca to look at the camera with food, but Leia isn’t the most food driven dog. She is also a bit skittish and flashing lights are apparently scary. Since Chewbacca joined the family he has been my shadow. He follows me wherever I go (unless there is someone else in the kitchen or with food, food is definitely more important than mom) so getting Chewbacca to sit a meter or two in front of me in front of the camera was also a challenge. He kept wanting to come sit next to me. Or, in typically Chewbacca style, on my lap. It must have taken close to an hour just to get Leia into the room with the “big scary, flashy lights”. With a lot of convincing she entered but, at first she was attached to Chewbacca’s side the entire time. It was only when I brought her blanket in that she seemed to relax a bit more.

Future mission plan: 

This is dogs in studio concept is something I definitely want to do with the fur kids again! Next time I’ll be sure to set aside more time though so I can really get a ton of shots of my special furry friends and really work to get them comfortable with a flash constantly going off. In the mean time though, I’ll carry on photographing them outdoors in some stunning natural light. And of course follow my advise to all my clients, and get an album and some wall art printed. Keep and eye on my instagram stories to see these prints!

Find some other dog shoots here:

Chewbacca & Leia at the dog park  Oli, Bella, Eddie and Lucy Dog Portraits Mienkie, Marley & Kenobi Dog Portraits Finn  

Adopt a dog:

Leia adopted from: Vereeniging SPCA Chewbacca adopted from: Labrador Rescue