Pet Portraits: In or Out?
We’ll give it to you straight. Pet portraits are in! (And oftentimes, better done indoors than out, but we’ll get to that later…)
As long as people have had pets, we’ve searched for ways to immortalize our pawed family members. Cave drawings, simple sketches, oil paintings, tintypes—you name it!
And we’re still on the same quest, scheduling family portraits that include our pups, day-dreaming about glamour shoots for our cats, and booking the studio for baby bunny pics.
So… do you have pet portraits available as an offering for your clients? If not, you might be missing out on an immortal market!
Photo by Alex Converse
creation of comfort
Oftentimes pets are our comfort animals, greeting us with a wagging tail when we come home from a hard day at work, snuggling up with us on a cold night, or boosting our dopamine just by petting their soft fur.
As a pet photographer, it’s important that we do our best to ensure our pet (and human) clients are comfortable during their shoot.
Shooting indoors, in a pet-friendly studio or in your client’s home can limit distractions, startles and help keep the pet at ease.
Frankly, pets are notoriously difficult to photograph as they don’t tend to listen to direction and will move and fidget frequently. Rather than trying to pose your subjects, allow them to naturally exist in the space; sharing treats, performing tricks, or just cuddling up to one another.
Photo by Michelle Holloway
Walks and weather
Have a pup on set that’s just a little too excited to be there? Offer to join your client and their dog on a walk around your shoot location, just don’t forget to bring your camera!
This will knock out to birds with one stone—your pup subject might be more likely to sit still and relax afterwards and you can snap some additional portraits!
Even if you plan to shoot outside, we highly recommend having an indoor backup plan in case of poor weather. We can’t understate the magic of transforming a rained-out outdoor shoot into a cozy, snuggled up indoor one!
Photo by Bonnie Van
No pet left behind
It goes without saying: there are dog people and there are cat people.
But! There’s an often overlooked third group! Bunny, lizard, bird, snake, turtle, hamster (you get the idea) people. As much as we love our kitty and puppy friends, we can’t leave out the others!
Don’t be afraid to branch out and take some beautiful portraits with other pets!
Visit a client’s farm to capture dreamy photos of them with their horse, invite them to your studio with their turtle (and maybe bring some cutie little hats!), or capture them in their element with their bird.