New Albany, Ohio, Pet Photography Studio Session - Roux the Afghan Hound

I've had an idea for a styled shoot rolling around in my head for ages. I pictured an elegant hound, wearing a gold crown, with moody lighting in a whole renaissance era oil-painting vibe. So when Roux's owner contacted me about booking a studio shoot for her gorgeous Afghan Hound, I knew this was the right pup to be my model. I asked her owner if she'd be ok with me getting some bonus shots after the regular shoot was done, and she agreed. So we did a normal shoot, and then switched into Rembrant mode to try to make this idea a reality. It's safe to say, Roux looks like she was born to wear a crown.

A few days after the shoot, I entered the image of Roux lying down with a laurel crown to the Professional Photographers of America’s annual International Print Competition (IPC). This image received a “merit” designation, which is awarded to high caliber images. This image joined 3 other of my photos which merited, to earn me a Bronze medal in the 2022 IPC competition.

Columbus, Ohio, Commercial Pet Photography - Parachute Home Puppy Party

One of the things that has helped me develop my photographic style as a pet photographer, is my background in commercial photography! Any time I am able to combine commercial photography with pet photography? I’m in heaven. So when Parachute Home reached out and asked me if I would join them for their annual Puppy Party for National Dog Dog at their new Easton location, I was so excited! They asked me to photograph dogs with some of their products, like their canvas dog beds. We had a great turn out, and created some beautiful product photos featuring our puppy party guests.

Did you miss the party this year? Well the good news is that Parachute Home throws a party every year at each store location for National Dog Day where you can come shop with your best friend, enjoy some local treats and drinks, and get your very own FREE pet portrait! Hope to see you next year!

Columbus Ohio End of Life Pet Photography Session - Rajah

I’ve known Miss Rajah for years, as her owner is a good friend of mine. In fact, this beautiful brindle ball of sweetness had play dates with my oldest corgi, Rigby, when HE was just a tiny puppy. When Rajah received some unfortunate health news, her owner asked if I would do a session with her in the time she had left. The answer was an enthusiastic “YES!!!”

Rajah is, and always has been, one of the Good Ones. I wanted to make sure I captured her sweet, incredibly laid-back personality. Rajah is more of a “lay in the sun” rather than “go for a run” kinda girl, (which…SAME). Rajah has lived an amazing life so far. Since Covid hit, Rajah and her owners have been road tripping all across the US in their camper van. I think Rajah has been able to pee in more states than any other dog I know.

We had Rajah’s session at Clintonville’s Park of Roses, which is absolutely bursting with color this time of year. We took a nice stroll around the park, taking advantage of the gorgeous backgrounds as we went. At the end we got a nice, subtle sunset. A perfect session ending for such a perfect girl.

End of Life Pet Photography sessions are such an incredibly valuable gift that you can give yourself and your loved ones. I keep time reserved in my schedule every week specifically for cases like this where owners aren’t sure how much time their dog has left and/or are dealing with tough decisions around the declining health of their best friend. If you find yourself in this situation and would like to book your own End of Life Pet Photo shoot, Contact me today .

One regret I hear over and over from clients is not booking a shoot soon enough. They figured they have plenty of time and plan to eventually book something later on, but their beloved furry family member passes away before they get around to contacting me. While I can always do a shoot that accommodates your dog wherever they are health and ability-wise, many folks prefer doing a session while their dog is still happy, alert, and mobile, as they want to remember their friend’s spirit while they’re still acting like themselves. I HIGHLY recommend doing your shoot sooner rather than later, as we never really know how much time we have with our pets. To see more examples of End of Life sessions, click on the “end of life” tag at the bottom of this post.

Westerville, Ohio, Pet Photography Sunset Session - Bernard & Cookie

Bernard’s owner reached out to me to take advantage of my July fundraiser for Stop the Suffering Animal Rescue of Ohio, where a portion of every session fee is donated to help homeless and neglected pets in central Ohio. Bernard had some unfortunate health news, and his owner wanted to get him in for a session while he was still happy and able to get around. Bernard’s sister-from-another-mister, Cookie, came along too for some photos. Their owner let me know that Cookie is shy and can be skittish in new and strange situations, so we made sure to budget extra time into their session to ensure Cookie was comfortable with everything, and worked to make the experience as stress-free as possible for her.

Our shoot day was…INSANELY HOT! But sometimes you just get crazy lucky during a shoot and not only get a stellar sunset, but a brilliant blue twilight complete with a few stars and fireflies! I may have been dripping sweat through Bernard and Cookie's session, but it was so worth it for results like these!

Westerville, Ohio, Pet and Owner Photography Session - Scout & Kira

Ohio weather in the summer can be a gamble. For instance, as I was driving to my shoot with Scout, the beagle/chihuahua mix, the sky opened up and absolutely poured. As I arrived at the park the rain was tapering off a bit, though it was still very blue in the west and the radar said more rain was on its way. We decided to roll the dice and go ahead and shoot as much as we could before the rain arrived.

Scout’s owner let me know that he is pretty timid around strangers and in new situations. But as soon as I got out of my car this little dude tried to immediately French kiss me! It’s safe to say I had his approval. With shy and skittish dogs, I like to budget a little more time into the session to make sure your pup is comfortable in front of the camera. One great way to make sure your pup is relaxed is to do some action shots of walking/playing. That usually helps them loosen up a bit. Another good approach is taking some candid shots of the sweet moments between owner and pet. Getting pets and reassurance from their owner can really put a pup at ease, plus it gives me a great opportunity to catch those special moments.

Scout’s owner was hoping for a sunset for their session. One thing about these kind of rainy days is you rarely get a sunset. But sometimes, you get super lucky and are surprised with an amazing array of colors as the sun goes down. Sunsets after a storm are usually much more vibrant than normal due to the higher moisture content in the atmosphere and greater scattering of the sun’s rays. All this goes to say fortune favors the bold. I’m so glad we decided to go for it and shoot anyway, despite everything looking like we would be rained out!

Westerville, Ohio, Pet Photography Session - Babe and Sparkles at Heritage Park

Babe the Shih Tzu mix was all smiles for her photoshoot. Babe's bubbly personality makes it so you can’t help but smile when you see her. Although our shoot was focused mostly on Babe, her furry sibling, Sparkles, shared in the limelight for a few shots. Sparkles is a sweet, blind, Cavalier mix who wasn't impressed with the super model life and opted for being pushed around in her stroller like the queen she is instead.

We shot at Everal Barn and Homestead in Westerville, taking advantage of all the great landscaping and seasonal colors. What I love most about this park, however, is that there’s a perfect little hill that allows us to get slightly above the treeline so that we have wide open view of the sky for sunset shoots. While the sun went behind clouds during most of our shoot, we still got a gorgeous, colorful sunset to take advantage of at the end of our session.

If you need more Babe in your life, her owners have an Instagram account for her! https://www.instagram.com/lilmissbaberescuedog/

Gahanna, Ohio, Pet Photography Session - Creekside with Ravasz, Oopsie, Dazy and Tip

I met Ravasz the Hungarian Mudi several years ago for a photoshoot in Westerville, so I was super excited when his mom reached out again to schedule another session for him and his 3 furry siblings. It was a blast photographing Ravasz, Oopsie, Dazy, and Tip. All four of these pups were super smart, happy little models who were willing to work for hot dogs. We had absolutely perfect weather for our shoot at Creekside in Gahanna and enjoyed exploring the park. Creekside is such a fun location for a shoot. It has so much to offer from cute little “Main Street USA” style storefronts, to fountains, to a boardwalk through the woods, following the creek. Plus, I can’t forget my favorite feature: a nice little waterfall!
Ravasz and his siblings are Hungarian Mudis and Mudi mixes. Have you ever met a Hungarian Mudi before? If so, you should count yourself lucky! There are only an estimated 450 in the United States and about 3,000-4,000 worldwide! Want to learn more about this unique, rare breed? Head over to the AKC’s website, to read about Mudis, and you might just spot a familiar face—Ravasz! That’s right; this handsome boy is literally the poster child for the breed. I’m including a screenshot of the AKC’s Mudi page below. This photo was from my first shoot with Ravasz years ago where we used Hoover Reservoir Lake in Westerville for our location. As you can see, he is still just as handsome as ever, even after all these years.

Commercial Pet Photography - Columbus, Ohio, Magazine Shoot

I absolutely LOVE working on commercial pet photography projects for clients. I recently had a fun project come up for Dogster Magazine that involved photographing some Afghan hounds for the cover of their June/July 2022 issue. Afghan hounds aren’t exactly dogs you see walking through your neighborhood every day, so I was super lucky to find two incredible dogs from Solina Hounds in Alexandria, Ohio. Owner Sophia graciously brought her Afghan Hounds, Inca and Genny, to me for their glamour shots. We wanted to have a true beauty magazine cover look complete with a fan to blow out those luscious locks. These two gorgeous ladies did not disappoint. Both models were so friendly, happy, and easy to work with that it made my job easy! Below is the final cover for Dogster, a small sampling of some of my favorite shots from this session, and a behind-the-scenes look at my set-up.

Westerville, Ohio, Pet Photography Session - Lola the Cocker Spaniel

Lola came to me for a session when her owner received a pet photography gift certificate for Mother’s Day. This sweet senior Cocker lady is blind, but that doesn’t slow her down. She was super outgoing and loving, and your best friend if you gave her cuddles and booty scratches. It just goes to show that even if your pet has an impairment, we can still get amazing photos during your shoot. Lola’s owner even brought along a little flower crown for her session, which was the perfect finishing touch for this queen.

Westerville, Ohio, Pet Photography Session - Marnie and Murfey the Havanese Dogs

Marnie and her brother Murfey the Havanese dogs recently had their session at Everal Barn and Homestead at Heritage Park in Westerville. These two were absolute rockstars! Marnie had the sweetest smile, and Murfey might be in the running for "best head tilt ever". True to their breed, these two were smart, outgoing, silly little pups. So it's no surprise that historically, Havanese were once used as circus performers, due to their happy clown-like nature. I knew from the moment I met these two that the shoot was going to be amazing, and they did not disappoint!

Westerville, Ohio, Pet Photography Session - Denver and Kitsu, Brittanys

Denver and Kitsu the Brittanys are littermates that were adopted by two friends. They came to me for their outdoor sunset sessions at Hoover Reservoir in Westerville, Ohio. These two lively pups enjoyed exploring the forest and all the sights and smells of the park. While I always hope for perfect sunny skies for every session, sometimes Mother Nature has other plans. Unfortunately the sun disappeared behind a cloud bank as soon as our session started and never really came back. But the good news was that it meant we could get some dramatic blue hour shots at the end of our session.

Westerville, Ohio, Pet Photography Session - Oksana the Husky

I absolutely love springtime! The warmer temps, vibrant splashes of color, and beautiful spring flowers—it’s all a perfect recipe for a great outdoor pet photography session. For Oksana the husky’s session, we used both Astronaut Grove Park and Everal Barn and Homestead at Heritage Park in Westerville, Ohio. Not only did we get amazing spring colors to work with, but we were lucky enough to catch a perfect sunset as well. But our photo shoot didn’t stop there! Oksana and her owner were great sports and stuck around a little longer so we could keep shooting into twilight. This allowed us to got some dramatic blue hour photos featuring dark clouds rolling in, making for a truly dynamic pet session.