Tag: Dog Photography

In The Studio And On Location

by Shooting The Dog, posted in Brixham, Devon, Dog Photography, Dogs, Photography

July has been a busy month, we have had photo shoots in the studio and on location. Lots of fun with wonderful dogs, and lots of happy clients of the human kind.

In The Studio

In The studio - Meg

In the studio, since my last blog, we have had Meg & Bailey. A pair of rather gorgeous Lhasa Apsos.

This one is Meg, doing one of her rather aloof poses.

In The Studio - Bailey

And this is Bailey, far more in-your-face and ready for his chance at modelling.

Both Meg and Bailey were a pleasure to work with. There was a lot of belly rubbing and nose nibbling going on between shots!

On location

Next up, was a location shoot with Leo. He was rescued from the street in Thailand. His owner wanted to show how much he has moved on and enjoying his freedom since arriving in the UK.

On Location - Leo

As he is still learning about all the new experiences, we wanted to find a location where we would not have to worry about other dogs approaching unexpectedly.

The answer was Barkers Unleashed, a fabulous enclosed field that has been setup specifically for dogs. It really is a fabulous facility to have found, so if you have a nervous or reactive dog you should really check it out.

We will definitely be recommending it to our clients who are looking for a location shoot, as it allows us to get the photo shoot done without interruptions.

On Location - Tufty

The one dog that Leo is perfectly happy around is his rather senior step-sister Tufty. Tufty also joined us at the field and I couldn’t resist taking some shots of her as well. She is such a sweet old thing and was having a lovely time helping me get the shots I wanted of Leo.

A Little Bit of Down time

Fidget Posing

It’s not all been work. Fidget and I have managed to get out and about having some fun as well.

He turns into such a poser when the camera comes out!

Fidget swimming

We’ve been to the beach, and even ventured into the water on a few occasions.

Fidget leaping

If you want to book a photo shoot for your dog, or any other pet, just contact us and we will find the perfect setting for your photo shoot – either in the studio or on location.

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A Blog For June

by Shooting The Dog, posted in Brixham, Devon, Dog Photography, Dogs, Photography, Retail

A rather late blog post, it’s June already what has happened to April and May? Well they seem to have sped past very quickly. So many apologies for not getting around to posting anything here for a long time.

May Camping Trip

Tom and Fidget camping in Wales

May saw Fidget and me off on one of our camping trips. This time to the wilds of the Brecon Beacons. We managed to get in some nice walks, and we even managed to time it right for some sunny weather.

It wasn’t one of our favourite camp sites, but the location was absolutely stunning, and the facilities and the site staff were brilliant. It was just a bit too busy with the “wrong” type of campers, and there was a rather busy road just by the campsite. But we still had a lovely break, and we are already planning our September trip.

In other news

Much work has been happening on the website. A few tweaks here and there in the background to try and optimise the site, and some changes to layout and content.

You can check out all the changes at www.shootingthedog.com

Meanwhile Fidget has been out playing with his friends and generally just being Fidget.

Best friends
The chase for the ball
A sandy shake on the beach

12th Birthday Special Offer

As our 12th business birthday is soon upon us, we have a fabulous special offer for anyone booking a studio photo shoot before the end of July.

Birthday Special Offer

And, we are getting close to completing our rebranding from Tom Horsley Photography to Shooting The Dog. Our new shop sign has now been ordered and hopefully will be with us before the end of the month.

Beware The Ides Of March …

by Shooting The Dog, posted in Brixham, Devon, Dog Photography, Dogs, Photography, Retail

The curse of the ides of March seem to have bit me this week.

Things have been a bit manic, as my computer started doing weird things. Have had to spend most of the week trying to get them sorted out. Which meant the jobs I should have been doing have been delayed. That in turn means I’ve not been a happy boy!

After a wait for Microsoft to call me back – that never happened; I had a lovely online chat with someone who seemed to know less about what the problem was than I did. However, we agreed that something had done something and that it wasn’t working. Anyway, to cut a very long story short , I restored Windows back to a point some time in the middle of last month and by some miracle everything was working properly again. Then I just had to get all the things I had moved out the way, when trying to solve the problem, back to where they should be – I am still doing this bit.

Barney The Border Terrier
Bouncy Border Terrier
Barney

Barney came in for a portrait session at the end of last month, and was full of terrier mischief. His owners sort of knew what they wanted, but Barney wasn’t quite so sure that he wanted the same thing. A lot of fun and we got some lovely photos; so I hope his owners are happy with the results.

March Availability

We still have some gaps in March and April if you would like to book your pet in for a photo shoot. Just drop us a message here and we’ll get back to you pretty sharpish!

Remember that dogs will be banned from many of the better beaches from the start of May, so if you would like a beach shoot then April is a good time to get it done.

It’s All About The Action

by Shooting The Dog, posted in Brixham, Devon, Dog Photography, Dogs, Photography

I love photographing dogs in all situations, and a lot of the time that is in the studio. The real challenge for me though is capturing the dogs outside, playing and running, and generally just being dogs. Action dog photography is where it is at!

Action Photography - in the woods
Extra Challenges

The obvious difficulty is just keeping up with a moving dog. But there is far more to challenge the photographer than that. The lighting can change in an instant, and if you are down in the woods getting a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action can be a real problem.

So this means lots of practice is needed. At my local park there are no end of fun loving dogs around to give me the practice I need, and my own dog is always on hand and ready for a game of ball, if he feels like it!

Action Photography
Action Photography
Action Photography
Action Photography
The facial expressions dogs make when playing is priceless
Action Photography
Action Photography
Action Photography
Action Photography
On The BeacH

When we need a change of scenery from the local park, the beach is our next favourite place to have some action photography fun,

Action Photography
Action Photography
Action Photography
Action Photography
In The Water

When you get too hot and bothered running about on the beach there is always time for a quick swim to cool off.

Action Photography
Action Photography
Action Photography
Under The Sea

With the right equipment the action doesn’t have to stay above the waves.

Action Photography
Action Photography

Of course, an action shot doesn’t have to be close-up and personal. One of my favourite action shots of my old dog Ludo is this one taken on Mansands in Brixham. The light is fabulous and it just captures the feeling of the whole place.

Action Photography
Can You Photograph My Dog?

If you would like us to capture your dog having fun in the great outdoors then please call us or send us an email (the details are all the website).

Remember though, if your dog is a couch potato then you might be better off with one of our studio sessions.

Thank You

A quick thank you to Brandy, Bruno, Molly, Alice, and a few unknown dogs who have joined in our fun; and all their tame humans.

Another thank you to my little Fidget, who doesn’t complain much about being a full time model, and to my old dog, Ludo, who was my main inspiration in setting up the business in the first place; and yes, I still miss him.

It’s Christmas Time ….

by Shooting The Dog, posted in Brixham, Devon, Cats, Christmas, Dog Photography, Dogs, Photography, Picture Framing, Retail

Well things are beginning to slow down now as we get to the last few days before the big event.

The final few framing jobs just need to be finished off (and collected by the customers!), and then we can relax … and go for a pre-Christmas beer.

2018 has been a busy year, with things changing slightly as we try to stay ahead of an ever changing market place. What with people worried about their finances and how the “BREXIT” effect will impact them, trying to tempt them to spend money on a luxury item is never going to be easy. Add to that a few problems with a naughty intervertebral disc and … let’s just say it has been difficult at times.

That said, we have had some wonderful customers through our doors this year, and we are already looking forward to shooting a lot more pets in 2019.
The calendar is already open, so don’t be shy about making a booking!

This year we have been looking at ways to make the mundane, paperworky (that’s my new word of the month) things easier. We have have started using FramR software for pricing the framing work, and Studio Ninja software to streamline the photography side of things. We have some minor things to iron out in both of these to fit the way we work, but we are getting there.

And so to next year ..

As with this year, the business will be moving more away from the original “Tom Horsley Photography” ideas, and much more down the “Shooting The Dog” road.

We pride ourselves on our pet portraits, we love doing them, and want to produce the best results we can for our customers.

So, next year should see some more changes to the shop; with less random “stuff” on the shelves, and more things related to the pet photography service on display. Print sales from the shop have pretty much dried up, so we’ll be moving all the landscape print sales to the web site only, and free up some more space in the shop.

Other than that, unless I come up with a cunning plan or win the lottery, we’ll continue to provide, what we hope is, quality service with everything we do, at a reasonable price (while still be able to eat occasionally!).

Thank you to everyone who has supported us this year, and we look forward to seeing you all again in the New Year.

Oh, and for those of you who have had you pet photographed with us before there might well be a very special offer for a follow-up shoot next year. I’m sure some details will be being published soon.

November News …

by Shooting The Dog, posted in Brixham, Devon, Cats, Christmas, Dog Photography, Dogs, Photography, Picture Framing, Retail

Well, November has been and gone – very quickly in my mind.

We’ve been doing lots of work on the web site this month, and The Framing Dept continues to be busy as usual.

We had two dog photography sessions last week, one with a wonderful rescue Bulldog, and the other was with two eleven month old Chihuahua x JRT brothers (it was chaos, but in a lovely way!)

Mimi The Bulldog
Buster
Buddy

Christmas will now soon be with us, so don’t forget our Christmas Gift Voucher offer, it would make the perfect Christmas gift for the pet lover in your life.