Meet Puddles an adorable Golden Cocker Spaniel puppy who, if I had to describe him in one word, would be described as fast, actually make that FAST! Now as a family photographer and even a dog photographer, I’m used to photographing fast moving objects but Puddles took things to an amazing new level!
His owner had heard I was running a series of mini bluebell shoots in Oxfordshire and asked if my ‘family shoots’ extended to dogs? Well, as you can see from the images below, the answer was a resounding “yes” and so we met early one Saturday morning to photograph Puddles amongst these beautiful and extremely colourful flowers!
TOP TIPS FROM A DOG PHOTOGRAPHER
If you’ve ever tried photographing a dog you’ll know that it takes speed, accuracy and patience (for both the dog and the photographer!) It’s always a good idea to take your dog for a walk before your photo shoot to help reduce their energy levels. But as a young puppy, Puddles was full of energy and bursting with excitement and the fact he was roughly the same height as the bluebells didn’t make life any easier! He literally darted between the flowers with nothing visible but his tail! But then, just occasionally, he’d stop, sniff the air and woosh he was off again – thankfully it was just long enough for me to get my shot! Just look at that pose, he really should be standing in the Crufts arena!
Another top tip is to get down to your dogs level. Yes that means lying on the ground, and thankfully it was a baking hot day so the woodland floor was pretty dry, but by doing this you’ll get a great perspective of your dog as they race towards you!
DOCUMENTING THE PUPPY STAGE
Like children, puppies grow so quickly. In a blink of an eye they’ve gone from puppies to wise old hounds, so Puddles’ owner wanted the shoot to capture his cute puppy stage. To achieve this I decided to give the images a sense of scale from cuddles with his owner, to standing ear high to a bluebell.
As the shoot went on, Puddles energy levels thankfully reduced so I was able to get a selection of shots at different angles, as well as documenting his fabulous puppy-dog eyes! He really was an adorable little thing and I look forward to photographing him again when he’s a little older and a lot slower!
AND FINALLY
Lots of people have asked me about Puddle’s dog harness. Well I can reveal it’s from Doodlebone and comes in lots of great colours, so for the best photos I’d suggest going for a contrasting shade that really makes your images pop!
