Make the Most of your Pup’s Photo Session with Uhli Photography!
Yay! You have booked your pup a photo session with Uhli Photography in beautiful Colorado!
Let’s #prepyourpup to make the most of their session!
The only expectation of your pup during their photo session is for them to be themselves. Let them be goofy, be playful, and remember to have fun! Bring your pup’s favorite treat and toys to encourage them to play. Think about your favorite parts of their personality, the ones that melt your heart, or give you the biggest smile. These are the moments we will capture!
Comfort & Confidence
One of the best things you can do during your pup’s session is to bring a calm and relaxed energy, and have fun yourself! Your pup will be looking to you for direction and security during this new and unique experience. If you are happy and enjoying the experience they will feel more at ease and let their personality shine through.
The more comfortable your pup is with the session, the more creative we can get in the time we have. While I don’t expect your dog to be “perfectly trained” it does help if they have mastered the basics and are confident in their skills.
Here are some great things to practice:
The Basics: Sit, Stay, Lay Down
Work with your pup using rewards (such as treats, toys, play, affection) to reinforce the basic manners they already know! Have several family members and even friends work with them a few minutes each day to practice. This will help your pup become comfortable taking commands from others, such as myself or the handler.
Look At Me / Watch
These are great skills for your pup to have for our session. Capturing your pup’s various expressions and, of course, that head tilt results in some of the best images. While the handler and I will be doing crazy things to get your pups attention, the “Look” or “Watch” command will help attract and hold their focus.
Adorable Tricks
Does your pup know some adorable tricks? Can they shake, roll over or, know how to dance? What skills does your pup have? These always make great images for your session. Practice these tricks with your pup to brush them up on their skills! Let me know what they can do during our session consult call so we can plan how to show off these tricks.
The Camera
Camera’s can be intimidating to your pup. Just imagine, from your pup’s perspective, you are placing a large black box in front of your face and moving a lens into and out of your face. Gah! They just don’t get it! This can be very scary for some pups. Or, maybe your pup has learned that when you bring your phone out in front of your face, you are about to take a photo. Your pup may be wary or afraid of the camera or just chooses to ignore your phone camera when you try to snap a shot. I feel your pain!
Making Friends with the Camera:
Whenever you bring out your camera (or phone) and your pup interacts with it in a positive way, like sniffing it, reward them! Again, rewards can be treats, toys, and play. Repeat this several times as long as it is a positive interaction. Soon they will learn the presence of the camera (or phone) means good yummy things for them.
Next, repeat the process and start pressing the shutter button. This introduces the clicking sound the camera makes when taking a photo. Don’t hold your camera up to your face to actually take a picture quite yet. Keep repeating and rewarding as long as your pup is positively interacting with the camera.
Finally, bring the camera up to your face, start taking photos and give big rewards in-between shots. This step can take more time and repetition. Be patient and keep up those rewards! Remember, the goal is not good photos right away, it's building a positive association with the camera and the action of taking photos.
Brush up on some dog manners, familiarization, and your pup’s skills as much as you can before your session. Several days is best but you can start several weeks before if your photo session is scheduled in the future. (It’s just nice to brush up on manners in general too!)
I hope you find these tips helpful for your upcoming session. Remember to bring the same rewards that you practiced with to the photo session. Having their favorites around will help your pup get comfortable and enjoy their session! I cannot wait to get some great images of what your pup can do!