Skip to main content

A Chihuahua with a Smile, More Puppy Portraits

I can't begin to tell you how much I have been loving creating unique pet portraits with the dogs I've had in the studio lately. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. Its got everything I want in a portrait session. I get to be creative, use my favourite props, and spend time with adorable animals, this time with one of the smallest dogs I've ever seen. She is just so sweet.
The shot above came about when my client suggested getting the puppy to peer over the side of a box which I thought was a fantastic idea and it worked exactly as we had hoped. Because she was so small my usual newborn props worked brilliantly with her and suited just how baby like she is.
I just love how this sweet little puppy always looks like she is smiling, unlike so many animals that look either perpetually sad or miserable. She looks like a happy and inquisitive little darling you just can't help but smile back at.
These scales are fairly accurate and its reading that she currently weighs just 4 and a half pounds. Such a tiny little thing. 
And course by the end the poor little girl couldn't keep her eyes open. She had worked hard and provided me with so much good material so at some point we just had to let her sleep.
One of the perks of this job is I got to sit back and relax with a good long cuddle with baby Minnie in my lap once we'd finished. She is just so awesome I find myself wanting one, not that my husband will ever let me get one. After our cats I've had a firm 'no more animals' rule imposed. For the most part I'm with him on that. But its times like these that I could be easily persuaded to change my mind.
These last two puppy shoots really have me thinking that this is an important time in their lives to capture. Puppies are puppies for such a short time so why not create some beautiful portraits so the memory will last a lifetime. And as you can probably imagine, some of these would make great wall portraits.

I'll be announcing a portrait promotion shortly so if you'd like to be informed of this please Like my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/christinalauderportraits. Or alternatively contact me by email at christina@christinalauderportraits and I'll be able to message you directly. I'm so looking forward to doing more of this work.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fine Art Portraits of a Beautiful Young Girl

So this is really becoming my thing lately. I am having so much fun working with children individually where I can direct and interact in ways that bring the best out of my subject. This has certainly become a process now of creating rather than taking photographs. And its what I have always wanted to be, a portrait artist rather than a photographer. I cannot put into words fully just how rewarding this is. For each of these shoots (as with nearly all of my shoots) we begin with a consultation where we discuss what we would like to achieve in the shoot. Here we will consider the type of clothing and any possible props. We will look at both the clients clothes and my ever growing collection so we can pick what will work best. In all circumstances we are heavily guided by what the child in the portraits wants to wear as I see this as vitally important. If he or she is uncomfortable its going to show and the portraits won't work. But most are happy to play dressups and wear a com

Never Work With Children or Animals

Or so the saying goes. But I have to say that working with dogs has been so lovely. They have been almost entirely a dream to work with. I say almost entirely because we have had a few moments where a dog has needed to settle. And one moment where the dog had settled but one of my cats decided to have a look through the glass door which, as you can imagine, rather quickly unsettled the dog. Still, that didn't stop us from creating incredible work. In fact it was during that shoot with the cat instance when I created two of my favourite pieces, shown below. (It was while sitting on the couch here when he noticed the cat peering through the curtain) I don't know if I've just been lucky or all dogs are just easy to work with. I photographed a french bull dog puppy and I thought that would be tough as he hadn't had time to be properly trained yet. But he did everything we wanted in no time at all. And this included the props we used here (below), which to me

Family Portraits with Fine Art Flair

I have a love and hate relationship with family portraits. I love the finished piece and creating something that is truly special to the family. I love that in years to come something I made is going to be a cherished and valueable memento for this family. What I struggle with, is getting all members of the group to look their best at exactly the same moment in time. You would be surprised at how difficult this actually is, particularly when it comes to 6 children. But I always get there in the end, whether it is the luck of a moment or with the aid of Photoshop. I ensure that everyone in the portrait is looking their best, even the dog. Seeing as this family is actually made up now of two families we also did portraits in their respective groups which I chose to do in different style to their main group. I love adding a bit of style for the overall main group and what you see above is something that is proving popular with my clients. I love adding props and giving a sort of Vani

Introducing Claude - Another Fantastic French Bulldog

I know this breed is becoming very popular, I believe even set to take over the top spot for most popular breed from the Golden Labrador, but I never expected to get quite so many in my studio. Can't say I'm complaining though. They have such a wonderful character and I love to capture those adorable squished up faces. This client came in not just for personal portraits though. Instead she is developing a line of homemade all natural dog treats called Claude's Little Doggie Bag  and these portraits are to be used in her labels. Which is partly the reason why these images differ quite drastically from my usual style. This client had a very specific idea for what she wanted on her labels. But again, this is perfect for me because I just love variety. I don't really want to be creating the same work over and over again. This gave me the opportunity to revisit a style I've not used in some time. This little guy was just 14 weeks old so as  you can imag

I am Still Me: A Story about a Transgender Boy

  Meet Leo. Leo is 15 and currently going through an epic transformation that has momentarily turned the lives of himself and those around him upside down. A mum who once had the daughter she always longed for is now coping with the realisation that she will be living the rest of her life with a son instead. When your child is born you have certain expectations of the typical life they will lead but most of us know and accept that it won't necessarily end up the way we imagine. Not every person wants to marry, have kids or be involved with the opposite sex. Most of us have come to accept this and can adjust to whatever comes our way relatively easily. But few of us have expected to have to deal with a change in sex. Its not that we've hoped it won't happen, but just that it never occurred to us that it might. This is a new adjustment that we as a society are being presented with today, just like so many others that have come before. When I first heard that Phoebe