Inside a Multi-Species Session: A Horse, Two Dogs, and Figuring Out What Works
When Emi reached out about a family session at Arbor Hill Farm in Canton, she was clear about what she wanted: everyone together. Her horse, Romeo. Her 13-year-old Pug, Henry. Her Jack Russell mix, Gomez. And herself, right in the middle of all of it.
She also told me why.
This session was a gift to herself for her 40th birthday — a way of honoring this chapter of her life by surrounding herself with the relationships that matter most to her. I don't think there's a more perfect way to mark that kind of milestone. Not a thing. Not a trip. A portrait of the life she's built and the animals at the center of it.
I'll be turning 40 myself later this summer, and something about that really landed with me.
The Plan (and Why You Always Need One)
As I drove through the gates at Arbor Hill, I started building a mental map. For Emi's session, I knew we had three very different animals, one location because that’s where Romeo lives, and a late-afternoon window of light that was going to move fast.
Arbor Hill Farm is stunning — weeping willows, four-board fencing, a stone column gate at the top of the driveway, open fields with wildflowers, and the kind of rolling North Georgia landscape that turns golden in the last hour of the day. Locations in the foothills have quickly changing light.
The plan was to start low on the property where the shade from the willow would soften the early light, work our way up through the property as the sun dropped, and finish back at the willows when everything went soft and warm.
Having a session flow mapped out means I'm not problem-solving the location while also problem-solving three animals. It gives me the mental space to just be present — and in a multi-species session, presence is important.
Romeo: The Horse Who Loved My Phone
Finding what works for that animal, in that moment, is part of the job.
Every horse is different.
We started with Romeo, and the first thing I always try to figure out with a horse is what gets their ears up. Ears up, alert expression, engaged eyes — that's the image. Everything else is logistics.
For Romeo, a few things worked beautifully. Shaking a bucket with a little feed in it got his attention immediately. General movement helped keep him interested. But the thing that really worked — and honestly, doesn't work for every horse — was my horse sounds app. I have an app on my phone that plays nays, whinnies, and nickers. Romeo was genuinely fascinated by it. He'd lift his head, prick his ears forward, and give me exactly the expression I was looking for.
Henry: The 13-Year-Old Hard of Hearing Pug (unless you have a treat)
Henry is 13 and a little hard of hearing — unless, apparently, you're shaking a treat bag.
Honestly? It made for some of the best images of the day. That big happy face aimed right at the lens, completely lit up.
The treat bag rattle was the unlock. Once Henry heard that sound and made the connection that I was the one holding it, something shifted. He decided I was his new best friend.
The challenge from that point wasn't getting his attention — it was resetting him into position, because every time I'd get him set up for a shot, he'd come trotting straight toward me with the biggest pug grin you've ever seen, completely ready to collect his payment.
Gomez: The Dog Who Needed Novelty
The key with Gomez was staying one step ahead and switching things up before he fully checked out.
Gomez was willing to eat treats, but food wasn't really his currency. For him, it was all about novelty.
We started with sounds — my distressed rabbit call, my duck call, and whatever ridiculous noises I can make with my own mouth. You will never meet a dog photographer who doesn't make extremely undignified sounds. It's part of the job description.
As those started to lose their oomph, I pulled out the squeaky toys. My hippo, my pig, my chicken. I’ll squeak them and then I'll toss them up so they fall behind me — that quick unexpected movement is irresistible for most dogs and horses. They lock in, ears come up, and I get the shot.
The Part Nobody Talks About: Patience as a Strategy
Here's what I always make sure my clients understand before ANY, but especially a multi-animal session: resetting a position five or six times is not a sign that something is going wrong. It is the session.
We're asking animals to do something completely unnatural — hold still and look at a stranger — and we want them to feel great about it. That means every attempt stays positive. Every reset is cheerful. Every moment of chaos is just part of the process.
I watched Emi's face relax when I said, "This is totally normal, I promise." She laughed, Peach laughed — Emi's friend had come along to help wrangle, which I can't recommend enough for multi-species sessions — and from that point on, the whole session felt like we were all just hanging out together in a beautiful field.
Which, really, we were.
The Image I'll Never Forget
We were late in the session, the bugs had started to come out, and Romeo was getting a little restless. I leaned into it — we moved into the open field and let him walk. And that's where it happened.
Emi and Romeo and Henry and Gomez, all walking together across a green field, the setting sun throwing golden light across all of them. A 13-year-old Pug doing his best, running at full speed with his short little legs. A Jack Russell mix with his ears up, leading the way. A horse, finally able to move. And Emi, right in the middle of all of it, exactly where she wanted to be.
That image is everything I love about this work.
“I was so worried”
That’s what Emi said when we met up via Zoom a few weeks after her session. That's what Emi said when we met up via Zoom a few weeks after her session. "I know you said it was normal, but I just kept thinking — we were such a mess out there. I was so worried there wasn't going to be anything good."
Then she saw the images.
She told me she genuinely couldn't believe she had been there for them. She remembered the chaos — the resets, the bugs, the horse who got antsy, the Pug who wanted to collect his treats early and often, the Jack Russell who took off running through the field. What she didn't remember was how many quiet, beautiful moments were happening in between all of it. Because she was living them. I was the one watching for them.
That's the thing nobody tells you going in: the session feels like a lot, and the images feel like magic.
Emi is adding her favorite as a canvas to her stunning gallery wall and into a heirloom album she'll have forever. A whole chapter of her story, right there in her home.
Ready to photograph the life you've built with your animals? A Signature Session is designed for exactly that — multiple pets, multiple species, the whole beautiful chaos of it.
