“Are You Able to do Portraits with Pets?”

I normally just do a Christmas card (plus picture) to friends and family, but I was thinking it might be nice to do something that included our new cat. Are you even ABLE to do portraits with pets, or does your studio focus on people only? — Pet Lover

Good question! While many of my clients are human ones, I do have some animal subjects as well. As a cat owner and pet lover myself, I know where you’re coming from. In fact, our holiday portrait includes Jake, our cat, whenever possible (See our holiday family portrait!). If you genuinely want to include your four-legged family member in the family portrait, I am more than happy to do so.

The most common pet portraits I create are either individual pet portraits or portraits of pet and family portraits! Pet portraits are done a little differently than standard portrait sessions. Obviously it’s a lot harder to tell your cat or dog to sit still; so when I work with animals the session atmosphere is a very relaxed, and we will work at a pace that your pet is comfortable with. I generally recommend planning a location session if you’re going to include your pet, because it is good to have the session in a location your pet is familiar with (especially for cats).

As with any portrait session, a little planning will go a long way towards making your session a great experience. At your pre-session consultation appointment, we will spend tome time to discuss your pet’s personality and temperament. As I find out a little about your pet, I’ll be able to recommend the best option for capturing your pet’s personality during our session. It’s very important for your portrait experience to be relaxing and not stressful — and that goes for your pet’s portrait experience too!

Ask the Artist! features your questions, answered by Betsy Finn, photographic artist. Trust Betsy’s Photography, You’ll be Trusting the Best!

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This entry was posted on Friday, December 14th, 2007 at 11:46 pm and is filed under Portrait. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.