Pet Portraits At The Norfolk SPCA

I did my first round of pet portraits for the Norfolk SPCA on Saturday afternoon. THAT was fun! I can hardly wait till next week to do round 2! One thing that was funny about it to me was that quite a few owners came out with THREE dogs at the same time and wanted a GROUP portrait of them. I guess they thought I was the dog whisperer or something. I couldn’t make that Cesar noise, point my finger, and have the dogs sit, look at the camera in a cute expressive way, and not pee on my camera bag all at the same time. (more on the peeing on the camera bag later if I remember to write about it!)

So, I did the next best thing. I can make a squeeky noise much better than any squeeky toy I’ve ever heard, and I can do it without any props. I’ve used it for YEARS on kids and adults alike while shooting portraits to get people to look at me and it always works on animals. The trick was getting the dogs to all sit and stay at the same time next to each other. Not an easy task at the SPCA with all the sounds, smells, and new places to mark. (for dogs)
So, instead of smoke and mirrors, I used helpers, leashes, and then photoshop to do what I wanted to do.

For instance: The image below is the BEFORE picture. People holding the leashes and me squeeking away.

Then, once back here: The image below is the AFTER picture. No people, no leaches, and fixed up the way I like it.

It was a great success! Lots of people with furry friends having a picture day. Here are some of the portraits I took yesterday.

There are SO MANY animals that need adoption at the Norfolk SPCA. If you have room in your home for something that will love you unconditionally, go get a furry friend! http://www.norfolkspca.com