I couldn't get a smile out of this little girl to save my life! Then her brother was getting fed up and losing his smile as well.

So, I told them that I was going to work with the dog and they would have to wag their own tails!



As luck would have it, mom stepped right in front of my light during this frame, but I think it turned out OK anyway.

Just wrinkle up your nose and ask if they have poop on their shoe. Or make a fart sound and ask if that was their mother. They ALWAYS laugh at poop/fart jokes. Its my last resort with kids, but, it works

Its very cute, but, I'd have had them turn a little more toward santa and even better, put their arms around him, at least the close arm

Good idea on the posing. Humans are definitely not my strength!

Remember, if it bends, bend it. The longer and deeper you get into studio stuff, the more that people will want to be in the photos with their pets. The more dynamic the images, the more likely a large sale.

You could have even had the kids hugging the dog and Santa with his arms on the kids.

Just things to think about in the future

Jim,
well, actually, the dog's ears should have been up too. With that many elements, it's not easy to get everything in one frame but this one has so much potential. Kids interacting more; dog interacting with the kids; looks like there was a need to relax everyone.

Jim

Thanks Julie,

I'll keep that in mind when faced with humans again.

Jim,


LoL. That dog would NOT put his ears up for anything. We even tried live bait

I have resorted to a photo with the dog's ears propped up from behind, but only with greyhounds.

The girl was very stiff the whole time and that is the most relaxed she got. If I had an hour session, maybe we could have gotten somewhere

Pant, seriously. If all else fails I pant and the dog usually responds to that. I have no idea why

Jim,
I understand. Sometimes nothing you do seems to work. I make a "ping pong" sound with my tongue that seems to be the workable last resort. Sometimes bouncing a tennis ball.

Jim

Its much harder when you have a line of people too. I give myself 2 hours per client(I rarely take that long, but, I have that time) so, I can relax the dogs/kids and figure them out. Kids I really have less time with as they get over it FAST.

I had one dog that I swear was just not going to look at me. She warned me he didn't like the camera, but, I figured he didn't like having a point and shoot in his face. No, he did NOT like the camera. He hid his face in her legs and would NOT turn to me at all. He finally looked at me with ears when I bounced the ball. His love language was a ball. Some its food(which I use VERY sparingly) some it is a noise, you just never know. Another last resort is to crinkle a treat bag and throw it in the air.

I hear ya! I've decided to fund-raising differently next year. Scheduled appointments at my home studio for a longer time, higher fee and (hopefully) a bigger donation.

I'll still probably do the occasional mass event, but the new way will be what I aim for.

Shooting for the housing folks will still be at their place, but I'm going to spread things out a bit more. We had folks scheduled every 10 minutes which was CRAZY!

Edit: Oh yeah, the crinkly treat bag is a trick I use now and then too. I try to avoid treats in most cases. I'm seriously thinking of getting a hunting call of some sort. Maybe a rabbit in distress sort of sound.