Photographing a Fearful or Anxious Dog
As a dog photographer, understanding a dog’s behavior is really helpful. I started a dog walking and pet sitting business in 2009 and all of those years of experience being around all types of dogs has really helped me with my dog photography.
Prior to any photo shoots I do, I have the dog mom (or dad) fill out a form. I ask all kinds of questions but a couple of them are: Tell me about your dog’s personality. Do you think there is a chance your dog will be afraid of my camera? How is your dog in new surroundings?
All of these questions help me prepare for the photo shoot. I put a lot of time and effort into each session before I take the first photo.
One of the most important things I do is help prepare the dog mom. She needs to be very patient and know that her dog doesn’t need to be a rockstar the entire time. She needs to understand that the photo shoot is a process and it’ll take time. With an anxious dog, sessions take longer than with a relaxed dog. We will need time and patience is key.
Because if photographing dogs was easy, everyone could do it, right?
This dog is Ginny.
Her mom is Alyssa and she was really honest with me about Ginny. She let me know that Ginny would be anxious.
The first photo below is literally the first image I took of Ginny as I was checking my camera settings. Alyssa had just put her down and Ginny was like, “Um… what are you doing? Pick me back up please!”
Literally 3 snaps later, I got the 2nd photo. I knew with some patience, we were going to be fine and we were. The photo at the top of this post is one of my favorites from our photo shoot. (To save time, I did not professionally edit these two photos.)
The first photo proves that with an understanding of dog behavior and good photography skills, I can get the shot.
Thanks Ginny and Alyssa. I’m really proud of the final images from this shoot.