Portraits of Eleven Puppies

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing 11 Bulldog puppies. And I say pleasure because I absolutely love puppies. I'm just not as keen on dogs. I know I couldn't accept the responsibility of owning a dog myself so getting the chance to have a complete litter of puppies visit with me for the afternoon was an absolute treat.

Of course chaos was really what was expected for this sitting. But in the end I was pleasantly surprised. As has been my experience with a previous litter of puppies, after a brief session of play and exploration, one by one they began to drop off. And as they did so, I placed them in my chest of drawers.

Amazingly they settled very well and straightaway. So much so that I couldn't bring myself to take any chances by readjusting things. To be honest I would have preferred their little heads were sitting a little higher. But that would have required taking them out and restacking the blankets again. I was too afraid of losing the opportunity so I decided to leave it for this session. I would like to try this shot again though with a smaller litter and possibly a smaller breed of dog. I'm a perfectionist and I can't help but think I could improve this shot.

The portrait I created using the chest of drawers was an experiment I did for my benefit. I try to create a portrait just for me in every session I create. This gives me the creative license I need to feel inspired and driven to push myself and my abilities. Sometimes my creations are just what my clients were looking for. And sometimes they appreciate them for what they are but prefer other images. Either way, I'm happy because I always get something out of each of my sessions.

This final image below is probably my favourite. I just love how this little puppy seems oblivious to the chaos behind her and instead dead keen to have her portrait taken. She posed for me beautifully, as if she knew what she was doing and doing what was expected of her while her childish siblings messed about elsewhere.

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