Portraits of Another Gorgeous French Bulldog

I can't say enough how much I adore photographing this breed of dog. They just seem so photogenic to me, with so much character and such a lovely temperament. I think I could photograph these sweet things everyday.

This one was a little frightened being on the wooden boxes. We weren't sure really why. It wasn't too tall that she couldn't jump down if she wished but for some reason we struggled to get her to settle. She just remained glued to the spot, which I suppose helped us in a way. In my attempt to get her to settle we tried a variety of boxes to see if she felt more stable on different ones and I think we finally got there. There is something about having the dogs sitting or standing on these wooden boxes that really appeals to me. And the ones in the boxes I think are just so sweet.

The beanbag was a little easier. She certainly looked more comfortable but keeping her there was a little more difficult. When she wanted down she just left. But for the most part she was very easy to work with and I got some lovely portraits here too.

When working with dogs you have to try different things to get their attention, to close their mouth, or to tilt their head. Its not always what you expect, like squeaky toys or treats, that do the trick. Nor did high pitched voices work on this occasion, which is usually a clear winner. At one point it was a low, deep voice spoken by dad that got her attention. When it comes to getting the shot, you do what you have to do.

As is usual for me, I like to try something I've not yet done before. I try to do this for most shoots. It will usually be the last thing I do, just in case we don't get time for it. I do this so I don't miss anything the clients have specifically requested. This idea came to me while planning the shoot. In this case, the client had mentioned that their girl often gets mistaken for being a boy and they thought it would be nice to get a portrait that shows she is definitely a girl. So that is what I did. And I'm glad I did because its actually my clients favourite setup. I'm torn between the two that follow as to which is my favourite so I've included them both, one of which was chosen by the client. Can you guess which one?

In the end we got everything we needed and more. I could have carried on for ages as she was that fun to photograph. But when she made her way back to one of the blankets we had used earlier and settled I gathered she was trying to tell us something and figured we were definitely done. It was all good fun. And French bulldogs are definitely one of my favourite subjects to work with.

If you have a dog you adore why not get some portraits of them? Its quite an enjoyable experience and in the end you have some beautiful images to cherish forever.

Please get in touch if you'd like to hear more. Links to contact details are all below.

Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Website

Comments

Anonymous said…

Beautiful photos..just beautiful x

14 January 2018 at 17:56

London in Spring, Whats Not to Love?

Well I know there is still a lot not to love but I'm choosing to see the great things about London at the moment. I am having a ball this year visiting London as often as I can. Which is unusual for me since I usually prefer the comfort of my own home, in rural old Leicestershire. Staying home and avoiding people has always been the easy option. But this year, possibly due to the wonderful weather we keep having, has me longing for venturing out. Again, just like my last trip, I headed out with my good friend Panikos Hajistilly . Living in North London he finds it easy to meet up for our shoots. This time though I had more of an idea of the sights I wanted to use as the backdrops for my portraits. With it being spring I was in search of colour, preferably flowers. Admittedly. I didn't quite get what I was looking for. The white fronted terraced houses with pink magnolia trees we did not find unfortunately. But I did make it to Peggy Porchen's which was a must see on m...

Baby Frankie

Well I suppose its about time I got back to blogging. I used to love writing blogs and was always thrilled to post them so I could get some feedback. But I drifted away from blogging and have found it difficult to return. Since I've been rather busy lately I thought I'd take the opportunity to share over these next few weeks all that I've been up to. I've had some great sessions with babies, families and even adults. And even did some product work, cremation jewelry believe it or not. And now, today, the school portraits season has begun. So I will be very busy over these next few months but that should provide me with loads to share. I thought I'd kick off the blogging with some work for a returning client with their latest addition to the family, Frankie. They did as advised and came over for a session when Frankie was about 2 weeks old. Ideally between 10-14 days is great. In fact they ...

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...

My Work Experience Week by Hester Sharpe

A week in the life of a Photographers assistant, is not all about saying cheese! I’m Hester Sharpe, currently at JCC but took a week out of normal school life on work experience to be a photographer’s assistant and learn the bits behind the camera, photograph and the process to get to the end result. During my week of work experience in photography I have learnt that there is a lot more than just taking the pictures and printing them. The steps in between are the key to getting the perfect photo. For example the photos have to be cropped, tweaked, edited, colour corrected. That is just a taste I have had in the processing of the photos and there is a lot more than just those things. Those processes are the most time consuming part of the photograph and a tremendous amount of detail is put in to the picture but all the hours spent are paid off with the end result; a perfect picture. It isn’t just how the picture looks; presentation is a key to photography too. Selecting the best ...

Its a Dog's Life

When life gets tough I always look at dogs or my cats and think how lucky they are. I know not all are treated well but those lucky enough to be in a good home, like the ones who come into my studio, have a really great life. They look so happy and its a wonderful thing to see. I honestly love photographing dogs. They are a joy to work with and its almost impossible to produce a bad portrait of a dog which does of course make my life a little easier. I am someone who really needs to love the work I create. I can't help but love the portraits I've created of all the dogs I've photographed over the years. And this shoot was certainly no exception. I found it a real pleasure using a lighter background this time too. I do often gravitate towards darker looks but seeing as this dog had a light coloured coat I thought I'd produce lighter images. This gave me the chance to use a canvas I painted a couple of years ago but never really used and I absolutely love it...

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog