I’m now living in Brisbane and we wanted to take advantage of this with some urban shots, so we chose New Farm Park in Brisbane as the location. It’s perfect for this kind of thing, with beautiful established parklands and an inner-city riverfront urban feel. It took a few tries, rescheduling due to inclement weather, but we ended up with a beautiful sunny afternoon. The difference in light is huge to a cloudy day, so it’s definitely worth waiting!

I now have a commercial model database that I can refer to when sourcing talent for these kinds of shoots, with a wide range of dog sizes, breeds, ages and owners. If I have nothing on the books that suits, I can usually find some talent in a few days via my Facebook page and other avenues. For this shoot we decided on Sara Jean and her gorgeous little West Highland Terrier, Yuki.

We also required a larger dog with darker colouring to help show off the products we were featuring. I asked a previous client of mine (see her shoot here), Sharna, to see if she’d be interested in doing a spot of modelling with her stunning black Labrador Dallas. Luckily she agreed!

I just love the personal connection between these two.

New Farm Park offers a variety of shooting spots and backdrops. Like the previous shoot with EzyDog, they required some shots of their products in action, so we moved to the riverside pathway and asked the girls to do some running for us! I love this shot of Sara Jean in midair, with Yuki trotting along beside her.

The fluro orange harness and lead was an instant fave and looked fantastic on the dogs, especially Dallas with her glossy black coat.

EzyDog also had a new tug toy product that they needed product shots of. It was a hit with Dallas!

The new collar design is a clever one, that allows the force from the lead to be exerted on the whole collar rather than just a single d-ring, with no pressure on the connecting clip either. Great idea!

The Powerhouse at New Farm Park is a very popular location for photo shoots of all kinds, and it’s easy to see why. Right on the river and with some very cool historical building style mixed with modern features, it’s a great alternative to shooting in busy city areas.

We dubbed this brand new collar colour the “neapolitan ice cream”, just love the colour combination and it looked fantastic on Yuki.

When shooting lifestyle images, it’s important to create a natural, casual feel. It’s equally important to show off the product though, so we pay lots of attention to positioning the logo and product features where they can be clearly seen.

Dallas is such an attentive model, and the red QuickFit harness looked fantastic on her.

Little Yuki was very patient with us trying to get that perfect shot.

Managing the dogs’ energy levels and keeping them interested and willing to “work” is pretty important throughout the shoot. I caught this shot as Sara Jean was running us through Yuki’s extensive repertoire of tricks. Impressive!

When shooting to create a selection of images that will be utilised for different applications such as brochures, web banners, billboards and various other sizes and formats, it’s always good to leave space around the subject and not crop the shot too tightly. The below shot demonstrates how, if there is space to work with, the image can be cropped to allow room for text or another overlaid image on the left. More about this later!

As the late afternoon sun filtered through the trees, all the joggers and bike riders came out in force! For these kinds of candid shots, it’s good to give a sense of place and mood. The inclusion of these people as blurred out figures in the background works well to set the scene. Just a note though, I was careful not to include recognisable faces, as the people pictured would then be required to sign model releases before the images could be used commercially, just as our models were required to do.

The last location we chose was the big “pink” brick wall that makes up the parkland side of the Powerhouse.

When it comes to commercial lifestyle images for the pet industry, I think it’s important to try and include both a connection between dog and owner, and a snapshot of the personality of the dog itself. This is something I am alway striving to capture during private sessions, so transferring it to this kind of environment was relatively easy.

I mentioned before about leaving room around the subject for various crops to suit a range of applications. This image of Sara Jean and Yuki was shot with that specifically in mind. It’s a much wider view than I would normally take and I’ve left room all around the subject allow for different crops.

To illustrate this, I’ve created a few different crops of this same image. The first is a square crop – nice and balanced but with room for overlaid text or other features if required.

The next version is a “widescreen” or panoramic crop, with the subject to the right and space for other elements over the blurred out background on the left. This could be used for something like a magazine or brochure double page spread or billboard.

A different variant on the same theme, this crop places the subject on the left and a clean wall background on the right. This would also be suitable for a double page spread, suitable for placing text directly on the uncluttered background on the right. Being a much closer crop, it also places more emphasis on the subject and products.

The last crop I’ll demonstrate is a vertical “portrait” crop. As it focuses in on the subject and includes much less of the background, it would be ideal as a stand-alone illustrative shot in publications or online applications.

I really love working with pet related brands, whether they are small start-up businesses or large established companies. I’ll soon be launching some great commercial lifestyle photography packages, so if you’re a brand or business in the pet industry, stay tuned, or get in contact with me to find out more now.

Is your dog a superstar in the making? Do all your friends and family just love them? Want to win some awesome prizes? Post your best photo to the Bark Stars dog photo competition on Facebook and share them with the world!

HOW TO ENTER

1. Choose the very best photo you have of your dog
2. Visit the competition page on Facebook
3. Submit your entry by clicking the Submit an entry tab and filling out the form
4. Find your entry in the View entries tab
5. Share via Facebook, Twitter and email to encourage friends and family to vote for you!

The photo with the most votes when the competition closes at 12pm on Wednesday 28th March will WIN the major prize! There are also more prizes up to for grabs from proud sponsors Puppy Tales, Tolly & Applewood, Sweet Chops and EzyDog, check them out below.

THE PRIZES

	Major Prize valued at $650 Photo session for your pets from Charlotte Reeves Photography, includes: On-location photo session for up to 2 pets* Shooting time of 1-2 hours Includes 1-2 locations The best 30 images are carefully selected and edited to perfection in both colour and black & white In-home Session Premiere; includes a custom slideshow of the session, viewing of samples and product selection Zig Zag book (includes 12 images) 2 high resolution digital image files
	Second Prize valued at $310 Includes a Puppy Hamper from the Puppy Tales Shop, valued at $120 including postage PLUS a gift voucher from Charlotte Reeves Photography valued at $200. Puppy Tales online store stock the most unique, environmentally friendly, innovative and entertaining dog merchandise around. They love buying good quality products for their own dogs and sharing their finds with other dog owners. View Puppy Tales on Facebook or visit their website.
	Third Prize valued at $170 Includes a newly released Convert Harness from EzyDog valued at $70 including postage PLUS a gift voucher from Charlotte Reeves Photography valued at $100. EzyDog provides active dogs and their owners with accessories that are comfortable, durable and reliable in the most demanding situations. View EzyDog on Facebook or visit their website.
	Fourth Prize valued at $100 Includes a beautiful handmade collar & lead set from Tolly & Applewood valued at $50 including postage PLUS a gift voucher from Charlotte Reeves Photography valued at $50. Tolly & Applewood create premium products that boast personality and style – top quality designer gear for your dog, that also happens to look incredible. View Tolly & Applewood on Facebook or visit their website.
	Three Supplementary Prizes valued at $50 each Fifth, sixth and seventh place-getters will receive a Hound Hunting Easter Egg Kit from Sweet Chops valued at $20 including postage PLUS a gift voucher from Charlotte Reeves Photography valued at $30. Sweet Chops create cupcakes and gourmet treat kits designed exclusively for dogs so you can bake a little piece of decadence for your four legged friends. View Sweet Chops on Facebook or visit their website.

Handy hints

• Enter the very best photo you have of your dog – make sure it is sharp, clear and shows off your dog’s personality
• Make it funny or cute to encourage people to vote
• Share your entry regularly via social media and email to encourage people to vote – people can vote once every day
• Make sure you remind people that “likes” are not “votes” – voters need to visit the competion page and vote on your image, not simply click “like” on your shares

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The photo session prize must take place at a location within 2 hours of Brisbane CBD (includes Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast). Session must be booked within 6 months of closing date of competition (before 28th September 2012). If the winner cannot redeem the voucher in this location and/or within the time frame, the voucher will be donated to a pet rescue organisation of their choice from the list below:

• Peninsula Animal Aid - website - Facebook
• Great Dane Rescue Qld - website - Facebook
• Friends of the Hound - website - Facebook

Full terms and conditions can be found on the competition app on Facebook – please review them here before entering.

The sooner you enter your photo, the sooner you can start racking up votes and be in with a chance to win these fantastic prizes!

THE PRIZES

	Major Prize valued at $650 Photo session for your pets from Charlotte Reeves Photography, includes: On-location photo session for up to 2 pets* Shooting time of 1-2 hours Includes 1-2 locations The best 30 images are carefully selected and edited to perfection in both colour and black & white In-home Session Premiere; includes a custom slideshow of the session, viewing of samples and product selection Zig Zag book (includes 12 images) 2 high resolution digital image files
	Second Prize valued at $310 Includes a Puppy Hamper from the Puppy Tales Shop, valued at $120 including postage PLUS a gift voucher from Charlotte Reeves Photography valued at $200. Puppy Tales online store stock the most unique, environmentally friendly, innovative and entertaining dog merchandise around. They love buying good quality products for their own dogs and sharing their finds with other dog owners. View Puppy Tales on Facebook or visit their website.
	Third Prize valued at $170 Includes a newly released Convert Harness from EzyDog valued at $70 including postage PLUS a gift voucher from Charlotte Reeves Photography valued at $100. EzyDog provides active dogs and their owners with accessories that are comfortable, durable and reliable in the most demanding situations. View EzyDog on Facebook or visit their website.
	Fourth Prize valued at $100 Includes a beautiful handmade collar & lead set from Tolly & Applewood valued at $50 including postage PLUS a gift voucher from Charlotte Reeves Photography valued at $50. Tolly & Applewood create premium products that boast personality and style – top quality designer gear for your dog, that also happens to look incredible. View Tolly & Applewood on Facebook or visit their website.
	Three Supplementary Prizes valued at $50 each Fifth, sixth and seventh place-getters will receive a Hound Hunting Easter Egg Kit from Sweet Chops valued at $20 including postage PLUS a gift voucher from Charlotte Reeves Photography valued at $30. Sweet Chops create cupcakes and gourmet treat kits designed exclusively for dogs so you can bake a little piece of decadence for your four legged friends. View Sweet Chops on Facebook or visit their website.

Laurel was lucky enough to win the raffle at the 2011 Million Paws Walk at Miami which included a mini session with me. She came up to my stall on the day and was so excited she’d won. I’ve been eagerly awaiting the session ever since.

We originally booked the session in for before Christmas, but due to the weather we had to reschedule so many times I lost count. Patient clients are the best! Eventually though we had a beautiful afternoon to work with and I am so happy with how the light looks in the photos. I can’t stress enough how much of a difference beautiful light makes to the final look of your images.

Some of you might be familiar with this well known dog beach on the Gold Coast – called “the Spit” – it’s popular with locals and probably the least touristy beach on the coast. The ramp up to the kiosk at the start of the jetty is where we started our session.

I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about our session beforehand, because what I remember about Geoff was him racing around madly on the the beach with Luna. I had a sneaking suspicion that it would be hard to get him to stay still for more than two seconds! My fears were totally unfounded though, as well as having an active social beachy life, Geoffrey is also very well trained!

I am in love with this shot of Geoffrey with the kiosk in the background.

Geoff goes to obedience classes regularly and his mum Laurel actually volunteers at the Animal Welfare League, teaching kids how to interact with and train dogs. The result is of course, Laurel having a very well behaved boy.

The path behind the dunes heading up the very end of the Spit is one of my favourite places to shoot. I love the colours and the late afternoon sunshine makes the scene come to life.

The dunes are awash with little yellow flowers at this time of year and although Geoff is a big tough man-dog, I couldn’t resist posing him in front of them.

Further down the beach, the last of the afternoon light was just starting to drop behind the dunes. The view down the coastline includes the towers and buildings of Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach and beyond, leaving you in no doubt that you’re on the Gold Coast!

Every time we had Geoff “stay” in a particular spot, when we’d finished Laurel would release him and he’d come racing along the dunes towards us, jumping big gaps between the dunes in some very impressive leaps and bounds.

Another aspect I love about shooting at the Spit are the dune trees – their long spindly bare branches make for an interesting background.

I couldn’t resist this shot of Geoffrey, silhouetted against the sky as the sun was setting.

Although he was rather tired (his second trip to the beach that day), Geoffrey was good enough to give me a lovely head tilt to finish off the session. I love this boy! Thanks for a great session Geoff and Laurel, I will have to bring Luna down for a trip to the Spit sometime soon.

To begin with though, meet Biscuit.

The session took place at a park on Mount Tamborine and after scoping out the area and deeming it safe, Biscuit was let off lead. Not 5 minutes into our session, he spotted a rabbit! Luckily with some quick thinking by Mechalle and excellent training, Biscuit was recalled and a crisis averted. Anyone who owns or is familiar with sight hounds will know this is not an easy feat!

After a bit of a shaky start to life, originating from an unplanned litter which could not be registered as racing dogs and with no less than four different homes by the age of 11 weeks, Biscuit found his way into the home of Mechalle and husband Graeme.

At just 3 and a half years old, he’s actually officially known as Biscuit CCD JDX SD SPD ET – which means he has titles in agility, obedience AND endurance. In fact, he holds the honour of being the first Greyhound in Queensland with the ET (endurance) title and the second in Australia!

What a clever boy!

With all this training under his collar, he also makes a fantastic model, staying just where we put him and responding beautifully to treats and toys being tossed around. Of course there were birds in the trees to check out too…

Big sister Checke is had a somewhat different start in life. She raced until she was three and a half, then retired. Mechalle and Graeme fostered her and when it was time to move onto her forever home, she had something to say about it – protesting very loudly – until it was decided that she would stay on with her favourite person in the world, Graeme.

On previous occasions when trying for photos, Checke had been a most unwilling model. She seemed to be a lot more relaxed outdoors though (previous attempts had been in a studio) and my sneaky long lens proved a real advantage.

Mechalle noted that Checke never sits down like this but we figured out it must have been because she was on a steep hill, how funny!

Checke was also quite happy lying down in the grass, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. What a stunning old girl she is at 10 years old.

Towards the end of the session, we managed to get both dogs sitting and laying down in the general vicinity of each other. If there is something I love most about photographing Greyhounds, it’s that they’re usually quite content to stay in the same place for a while, with very little encouragement!

To finish off, how awesome are Checke’s ears! One up, one down.

Checke and Biscuit were both adopted through a great Greyhound rescue organisation called Friends of the Hound. To find out more about adopting a Greyhound of your own, please check out Friends of the Hound Greyhound Adoption Group. They do fantastic work!

Grant’s job takes him away from home quite a bit, so miss Maddie is Ange’s constant faithful companion while he is away. Another reason I was looking forward to this session was the location – these guys are lucky enough to live in beautiful northern NSW, just inland from Tweed Heads and surrounded by green rolling hills, country roads and lakes.

We started off the session on the deck of their house. The light filtering through the surrounding foliage was gorgeous.

Although more than happy to play fetch all day long, Miss Maddie was less than eager for her close ups. We worked out that the focus beep of my camera sounded rather similar to the warning sound her collar made when nearing the boundary fence of their property (as Maddie does love to roam). Also, big professional cameras can be pretty intimidating even without the beeping!

We did end up getting a few cute shots on the deck anyway, the afternoon colours of the filtered sunshine were amazing against her black and white.

To Maddie’s relief, we soon bundled into the car and headed off to a country road nearby where she often enjoys meandering walks with lots of her favourite thing – fetching sticks!

This girl LOVES her sticks and is never far from one!

Maddie was much happier out on the road in familiar territory, and of course sticks make everything in life that much better!

I love this shot of Maddie racing towards her stick, with such an intense look on her face!

With the help of her beloved sticks, we even managed to get some lovely close ups of her out and about enjoying her walk, totally in her element.

Since the session was organised on the sly without Ang knowing, we were able to complete the experience with a surprise viewing and ordering session at their home – we set everything up and when Ang came home from work there was a lovely slideshow of all Maddie’s images on the TV in their lounge room! I love seeing people’s reactions as they view their images for the first time!

The Pets calendar features images from client sessions in 2011. View and purchase the Pets Calendar.

For Luna fans, her annual calendar is filled with images from 2011 and includes a couple of special guests. December includes, as always, a special santa hat image. View and purchase Luna’s calendar.

If you’re a past client (doesn’t matter how far in the past) and would like a calendar featuring your pet only, I also create custom calendars using your images. You can either choose the images you want in the calendar yourself or leave it up to me. There is a $50 setup fee and calendars are then available for purchase online for $27 each + postage. Just send me an email to get the ball rolling!

Here’s a calendar I made for Albert the cancer survivor. You can view Albert’s blog post and read his story here.

After some rather humorous out-takes involving a pair of very unhappy-looking kitties (think bared teeth, body contortions and ears laid right back), we put that idea aside and eventually worked up it, starting with some shots of each individual cat.

Sahara is a two year old Bengal and is a real stunner. I love those leopard spots which are legacy of her wild cat heritage – Bengals are actually hybrids between Asian Leopard Cats and domestic cats, though a few generations removed from a direct cross.

She is alert and playful, always keeping an eye on what’s going on and very inquisitive about everything.

Julius is a four year old Ragdoll and is much more laid back, typical of the breed, very cruisy and cuddly. Except when be is being held and we’re trying to get photos of him, of course!

What a gorgeous fluff ball he is.

Out in the garden it was easy to see Sahara’s wild heritage. She has these amazing wildcat-like stalking and trotting gaits, not like your regular domestic kitty.

Heidi and David’s yard was a great spot for some casual portraits, with the late afternoon sun filtering through the trees. We initially had them lying here with Sahara, but unfortunately Sahara didn’t wish to co-operate and after much wiggling and protesting, regained her freedom and ran off. These shots are the aftermath of this, there was lots of laughing and it just goes to show what a great relaxed fun loving couple these two are!

Julius was a little more co-operative and we managed to get a few shots with him before he had had enough. This is my favourite of these guys.

Sahara was off busy hunting and patrolling her territory, I think she’d spotted a bird here. We managed to stalk her and grab her for one last attempt.

When working with animals, patience is the number one attribute to have. Luckily it paid off towards the end of the session and we managed to capture a number of images with Sahara, this being my favourite.

Despite the fact our feline models were somewhat less than willing at times, I had a fantastic time with these guys and there was much laughter and chats. Thanks for a great afternoon Heidi and David!

I just thought I’d include some praise that Heidi sent through. I love it when clients send me this kind of thing, it does help to know I am on the right track!

“We couldn’t have asked for anyone more professional, lovely and talented to take our photos. Not to mention having a really fun time at the photo shoot. Charlotte has such a natural and amazing style to her photographs that definitely make them stand out. If you are looking or thinking about having some beautiful photographs taken of you and your pets that you will cherish forever, you should definitely get in touch with Charlotte Reeves Photography, you will be so happy with the results.” – Heidi

You can read more praise from my lovely clients on my website.

The late afternoon light at the beach was just perfect and played up Comet’s lovely thick golden coat when backlit.

Not to be outshone, Sun worked the light too and looked much more alert than her age of 10 years would suggest.

Comet had me in stitches with his upside-down stick chewing antics.

Whereas Sun was quite happy to pose it up in the sunshine near the rocks.

Earlier in the afternoon before heading to the beach we’d had a bonding session in the backyard, and these two proved to be excellent models.