5 Things To Prepare Before Your Dog’s Photo Shoot
What do you need for your dog's photo shoot?
Have you ever had that dream where you show up to school naked?
Lets avoid that feeling of being completely unprepared by making sure you’ve got everything you need before you show up for your session… fully clothed please.
Here's exactly what to bring, what to leave at home, and how to set your dog up for their best portraits yet.
1. Bring a Simple 6-Foot Leash
Plan for your dog to be on leash for the entire session. It keeps your dog safe and gives us a tool for positioning that we can't replicate with verbal cues alone.
The good news: leashes disappear completely in post-production. Every portrait in my portfolio is a leash-free final image. It's one of the things professional pet photographers do as a matter of course, and the results are completely natural-looking.
What makes removal easiest: a solid-colored nylon leash in a neutral tone — black, navy, tan. Avoid retractable leashes (too hard to control and to edit), patterned or multi-colored leashes (harder to clone out), and bungee leashes (too much visual chaos). Simple wins here.
2. Choose Your Collar Thoughtfully
Leashes disappear. Collars stay.
Your dog's collar will be visible in every final portrait, so it's worth a few minutes of thought before your session. For timeless wall art, a simple leather or faux leather collar in a neutral color keeps the focus on your dog's face rather than their accessories. If your dog's current collar looks worn or tattered, this is a good reason to replace it before the session.
That said — personality counts. A beautiful patterned collar, a pop of color, something that feels distinctly them can be exactly right. My recommendation: pick something you'd want to see in a large framed portrait on your wall for the next twenty years.
A few of my favorite sources: Paco Collars (handmade in Tennessee — available locally at Highland Pet Supply in Atlanta) and Designs by Wildside for gorgeous patterns and luxe velvet options.
PS. If you really love a naked look - consider using a show lead (a very thin rolled leather leash) that is narrow enough to be fully removed in post processing.
3. Remove the Tag Collection
Your dog needs their ID tag. I understand that. But most dogs arrive wearing five of them — ID tag, rabies tag, microchip registration, city license, and the one shaped like a bone from the groomer — all in bright neon colors, jangling and spinning.
For your session, remove everything except one clean tag or none at all. The tags will be there when you get home. For an hour, just let the collar be the collar.
If you want a tag that's actually beautiful enough to stay in portraits, Fetching Tags is a local Atlanta company that makes hand-stamped custom tags worth keeping on.
4. Skip the Harness
Harnesses are excellent walking tools. They are not excellent portrait accessories. Most harnesses cross over the chest and shoulders — exactly where the eye goes first in a portrait — and create visual clutter that's hard to remove in editing.
For your session, swap the harness for a collar. If your dog genuinely can't be safely controlled on a collar alone, let me know before we meet and we'll find a solution that works for both your dog's safety and your final images.
5. Bring the Good Treats
This one is the most important item on the list and the most underestimated.
We're asking your dog to pay attention in a new environment full of interesting smells, distractions, and a stranger with a camera. To make that worth their while, you need currency they genuinely care about.
Kibble is not going to cut it.
Bring high-value treats — small pieces of real food your dog goes crazy for. Hot dogs, cheese, diced chicken, liverwurst, freeze-dried salmon. The smellier the better. The smaller the pieces the better (we want enthusiasm, not a dog who needs to chew for 45 seconds between every treat).
If your dog is more motivated by toys than food, bring their absolute favorites — the one they lose their mind over. Let me know in advance so I can plan accordingly.
One More Thing — You
Wear something you feel good in, even if you don’t plan to be photographed. Sometimes you end up blurry in the background and it makes a great story telling image. Nothing too busy or brightly patterned — simple colors photograph well and keep your dog as the visual focus. But more than what you wear, bring your relaxed self. Dogs read your energy before they read anything else. If you're tense about whether they'll behave, they'll be tense too.
Your dog doesn't have to be perfectly trained. They don't have to perform. They just have to show up as themselves — and so do you.
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