• If the shoot is indoors, the background is made of paper.  Need we say more?  Please ensure that your dog is TOTALLY dry before bringing him in for your shoot.

• Please be on time. You will have been given your "call time" sometime before your shoot date. Please contact Katie on 07767 34 14 24 if you haven't heard from her prior to your shoot.

• Photo shoots may involve quite a lot of hanging about, especially if we have untrained dogs on set before you. Your patience is hugely appreciated.

• Whilst the client before you is choosing their pictures, make the best use of the time to start arranging your dog with his props on the set. You can also do a little 'clicker training' to get him working.

• To bring a dog into a professional shoot ungroomed, dirty or generally dishevelled is an insult to the school, the photographer and above all, your dog!

• All dogs MUST enter the studio on lead.  You will be invited to bring your dog in by a staff member when we are ready for you. You are more than welcome to watch the other clients being photographed ahead of you, so long as you are quiet! (You'll appreciate this when it's your turn...)

• Please don't crowd the grooming area. Leave your dog in the car and check the situation before bringing him in. All dogs MUST enter the studio on lead.

• If your dog has a problem with strange people or other dogs, please let a member of staff know BEFORE you bring him/her in!

• Please make sure your dog has a nice trip over to the studio! S/he will need exercising before the shoot, and may need to relieve him/herself when she gets there. You will need to bring poo-bags with you, ... just in case...

• Make sure you bring everything with you that you may need. This will include: your grooming equipment, a hair dryer (if your dog has a long coat and it is wet), clean towels, your treats and clicker (you will be surprised how many people forget!), your mobile phone (just in case you get held up). And your DOG!!!

• Treats need to be clean so that if they drop on the set, they do not stain the paper. Non crumbly stuff is appreciated too.

• No shoes can be worn on set, (they make nasty footprints on the paper). Socks are preferred ... so check they haven't got any holes in them before you come! (Also, wear shoes that you can easily slip on and off - its your time and your money!!)

• As we are shooting digitally, you will be able to choose your prints on the day of the shoot. Please bring your cheque book or cash with you to pay for the prints at the time you order them. We cannot accept IOU's!

• Don't be the Handler From Hell! The HFH client will:

  Barge into the set with his/her dog off lead, without checking that the previous dog is finished
  "Tut" and "Sigh" thoughout the shoot
  Obstruct the photographer
  Obstruct the client (if it is a sponsored shoot)
  Get angry with his/her dog when it can't do what it does "perfectly at home"
  Look unhappy or morose thoughout the shoot
  Has a collar on the dog that obviously hasn't been removed for years, ususally the buckle is encrusted with yukky stuff
  Won't have given the dog a chance to pee before coming into the studio
  Be aggressive and/or "Pushy" on set
  Take ages deciding which pictures they want, then realise they don't have any money on them!
  Refuse to let a professional handler take over and work their dog for them when what they're doing is not working
  Does not apologise for being late then takes up even more time by insisting on telling everyone how lost they got!
  "Tuts and sighs" if they have to wait for their turn
  Makes loud comments about other dogs as they are working
  Trys to "help" other people prepare their dogs for the shoot, by telling them what is wrong with their dog
  Arrives looking like they've been dragged through a hedge backwards.

• Remember: it is easier for us to work with a difficult dog, than a difficult handler. If we get a call from a director who wants to use your breed of dog on a shoot, we will pick the easiest dog and handler combination to work with.

 

Positioning a dog manually is known as "modelling". This has to be practised well before your shoot so your dog doesn't get stressed by the experience.
As you can see, the set is very tight for a large dog like Nicola Talbot's Diva, pictured here.
Lights for this shoot were directly above, front right and front left corners, with reflectors on both sides of the set.

Practise all your stays - you need to be approximately 10 feet from your dog.

The overhead lighting is set up to light your dog - NOT to be convenient for you!! Practise setting up your dog while you are crouching or kneeling.

Short coated male dogs have should really be 3/4's on to the camera when they are lying down or sitting (we don't want to have any willy shots - if you have a short coated male dog practice positions where his 'bits' are hidden!)

At school you will hear us talking about "eye-lines". This term refers to where the dog is looking when the picture is being taken. The dog will generally be looking at you, the handler, so it is important to practise getting these "eye-lines" right by standing right behind or over someone whilst you are setting your dog up.

This picture of Mozart, a chocolate labrador puppy, shows the importance of eye-line to camera. The puppy is looking directly into the lens and this really "makes" the picture.	On the other hand, this is a picture of Reeba, one of my favourite dogs at the CFA. A super set-up with the dog endorsing the Christmas present with his chin, but with the eye-line just 'ever-so-slightly off' the picture is not quite what it could have been.

You don't want to obstruct any of the lights - this will cause shadows on your dog, or on the background, neither of which is desirable.

Black dogs in particular require every bit of light they can get. This picture shows Oscar - perfectly lit and groomed so that he is positively gleaming under the flash photography. We bring many grooming products to the shoots with us to help you get this look.	Although Jack was exceptionally well turned out for this shoot, this picture clearly indicates that no matter how well groomed or how shiny your dog is, if you stand in front of the flash lights you won't get the picture you were expecting.

You certainly don't want to be walking into lights or set - both take quite some time to re-adjust/put back together!