The blooming of the azaleas always coincides with the spring showers (and thunderstorms!) here. Last year the best blooms happened the same day as the biggest storm and the azaleas were left tattered and deflowered. So this year we were watching closely for the blooms and made plans as quick as I could to get over to the HSMC while all the flowers were in place.

My friend Miranda (and director of the HSMC) messaged me a photo of all the flowers and I headed over to photograph the adoptable dogs in the spring flowers the very next day. We followed the sun all around the property to find the prettiest light with pretty flowers. And made sure to photograph the dogs in each of the colors: fuchsia, pale pink, & white.

Not only do you have to be fast to photograph the dogs in the spring flowers before a storm wipes out all the blooms, you also have to be fast to photograph them before the dogs stomp all the flowers! LOL! Working with shelter dogs presents some unique challenges. Many of the dogs are stressed. They are in a new place with new people and new smells – and while some have some basic obedience skills like a “sit”, asking them to do anything when they’re under stress can be really hard for them. Some dogs get silly and jump around and bounce all over the place. Some dogs get nervous and want to hide behind something. And some dogs want to look at everything but me.

Armed with patience, good noises, and plenty of treats though – I was able to get each dog photographed in the spring flowers.

While these dogs look like they’re off leash and frolicking through the flowers, you can rest assured everyone was safely leashed the entire time! 

Not only does the leash keep the dogs safe, the leash is also an invaluable tool in helping dogs understand where we’d like them to sit or stand. Since we can’t simply tell them to stand right in this sun spot and look to their left, we use the leash to direct them.

While everyone stays on leash during the photo shoot – you won’t find many leashes in the final images. Safety is number one during the photo shoot and leash removal is number one in post production magic for professional dog photographers!

Take a look at a couple before and after images to see a little photoshop magic. 

This blog is a part of a blog circle with pet photographers from across the globe! This week is all about spring!

Next up Jessica Wasik with Bark & Gold Photography, sharing her first spring session of the year with Xap the Yorkshire Terrier puppy.

Be sure to keep clicking the link at the bottom to complete the circle until you wind up back here!