Lesley & James,
We use props for much the same reason -- to make them more accessible to people. Sundance in particular is a very intimidating guy. So, when we did his calendar, we used lots of props & costumes to make him look sweet instead of tough. Here are a couple of samples:





When we do puppies, we love to give them stuff with which to interact.





Having said that, sometimes the best portraits are the simplicity of the subjects against a low-key background which we prefer.



Jim