Can I Bring More Than One Dog to a Photography Session?
Can I Bring More Than One Dog
to a Photography Session?
If you share your home with two, three or maybe even four dogs, the thought of bringing everyone to a photography session might sound slightly ambitious.
Getting one dog to look in the general direction of a camera can sometimes be an accomplishment.
Getting three dogs to sit perfectly next to each other, look at the camera and simultaneously make pleasant facial expressions?
That sounds like a completely reasonable way to spend an afternoon. 😂
Fortunately, that's not how a multi-dog photography session needs to work.
Yes, you can absolutely bring more than one dog to your photography session.
And yes, we'll work toward photographs of everyone together.
But we're also going to photograph your dogs individually, in different combinations and with the people they love.
Most importantly, I don't need every dog cooperating at exactly the same time for the entire session.
I just need the right moments.
Photographing multiple dogs doesn't require everyone to cooperate perfectly for the entire session. We just need the right moments.
1. Every Dog Doesn't Have to Cooperate at the Same Time
This is probably the most important thing to understand about photographing multiple dogs.
We won't put everyone in position at the start of the session and spend the next hour desperately trying to keep them there.
That wouldn't be much fun for anyone.
Instead, we can work with one dog while another takes a break.
Then switch.
We can photograph two dogs together.
Try everyone together.
Photograph one dog with you.
Bring another dog back in.
There's no rule that says every dog has to be involved in every photograph.
In fact, giving dogs time away from the camera can make the session easier.
While one dog is working, another can relax, sniff around, get some water or simply take a break from whatever strange nonsense the photographer is currently asking everyone to do.
Then we switch.
That means I can work with the dog in front of me instead of constantly trying to manage the entire group at once.
Even during a multi-dog session, each dog gets opportunities to be photographed individually.
2. Each Dog Deserves Their Own Photographs Too
If you bring three dogs to your photography session, I don't consider the job finished once we get one great photograph of all three together.
They're three different dogs.
They have different faces, expressions, personalities and relationships with you.
I want photographs that show that.
One dog might give me the most serious expression imaginable.
Another might spend half the session smiling.
And the third might have absolutely no interest in dignity whatsoever.
Perfect.
Those differences are part of why I want time with each dog individually.
It also means that when you're choosing photographs and artwork later, you aren't limited to images where every dog happens to be together.
You'll have group portraits.
You'll have individual photographs.
And hopefully you'll have plenty of images that feel unmistakably like each of your dogs.
A session with multiple dogs still gives each dog an opportunity to have their own portraits.
3. Your Dogs Don't Need to Have the Same Personality
Anyone who lives with multiple dogs already knows this.
Just because they live in the same house doesn't mean they're remotely the same dog.
You might have one dog who loves everyone and everything.
Another who needs a little time before deciding I'm acceptable.
One who would happily work for treats all afternoon.
And another who has reviewed the terms of our arrangement and would like to renegotiate.
That's fine.
We don't need to photograph every dog the same way.
A young, energetic dog might need more movement and play.
A quieter dog may be perfectly happy hanging out with you.
A nervous dog may need some extra time and space before I ask much of them.
Part of my job is figuring out what works for the dog standing in front of me rather than expecting every dog to fit into the same photography session.
Dogs from the same household can have completely different personalities, and we don't need to photograph them the same way.
4. So How Do We Actually Get Everyone in the Same Photograph?
Eventually, we're going to want everyone together.
This is where patience, positioning and a little strategy come into play.
We can use treats or toys to get attention.
We can have people help position the dogs.
Leashes can stay on when we need them and can often be removed during editing.
And we don't need your dogs staring at me for five straight minutes.
Sometimes I only need a fraction of a second.
Three dogs can be looking in completely different directions and then, for one brief moment, everybody looks toward me.
Click.
That's the photograph.
The finished image might look peaceful and effortless.
You don't necessarily see everything that happened in the thirty seconds before it.
The finished photograph may look perfectly calm. You don't have to see everything that happened immediately before it.
5. What If My Dogs Won't Sit Nicely Next to Each Other?
Then we don't need to make them.
A photograph of multiple dogs doesn't automatically require everyone to sit shoulder to shoulder and stare directly at the camera.
They can stand.
They can lie down.
They can interact with each other.
They can look at you.
We can create different heights and positions.
We can photograph them doing something together instead of simply asking them to sit.
The relationship between your dogs may be much more interesting than their ability to form a straight line.
Of course, if everyone happily sits together and gives me the perfect family portrait, I'll take it.
But I'm not going to spend the entire session trying to force one particular photograph if your dogs are clearly telling us there are better options.
A photograph of multiple dogs doesn't have to mean everyone sitting in a perfect row and looking at the camera.
6. A Two-Year-Old and a Fourteen-Year-Old Don't Need the Same Session
Multiple-dog households often include dogs at very different stages of life.
Maybe one dog is young and could run for hours.
Another is slowing down.
One might have mobility limitations.
Another might be ready to launch themselves into the next county because someone said the word "ball."
We're obviously not going to ask all of those dogs to work at the same pace.
If an older dog tires easily, we can prioritize their photographs while they're comfortable and rested.
If another dog needs movement before they're ready to settle, we can give them that opportunity.
If someone needs a break, they get one.
The goal isn't to make every dog participate equally in every minute of the session.
It's to make sure each dog gets what they need so we can create the photographs that matter.
Dogs at different stages of life don't need to participate in a photography session in exactly the same way.
7. Don't Forget About the People
If we're photographing the dogs who share your life, I also want to talk about photographs that show the life you share with them.
That doesn't mean every person and every dog has to appear in every photograph.
Maybe one dog has an especially close relationship with one of your children.
Maybe one of you is the person who always walks a particular dog.
Maybe Mom is apparently the only human capable of throwing the ball correctly.
Those relationships matter.
We can photograph everyone together.
You with all of your dogs.
Each person with a particular dog.
Different combinations.
And whatever else makes sense for your family.
Some of those photographs may end up meaning more to you than the one where every person and every dog is looking perfectly at the camera.
The relationships between your dogs and the people they love are part of the story too.
8. Tell Me About Your Dogs Before the Session
This is one of the reasons the consultation matters.
I want to know who I'm photographing before everyone shows up.
How do your dogs get along?
Does one dog need more space?
Is someone nervous around new people?
Does one dog guard toys or food?
Will separating two dogs make them more anxious rather than helping them relax?
Does one dog have mobility limitations?
Is there one magical word that causes everyone to completely lose their minds?
These things help me plan.
If bringing out a tennis ball is going to turn three otherwise reasonable dogs into complete lunatics, that's useful information.
Maybe the ball stays hidden until later.
If one dog needs more time to get comfortable, I want to know that too.
The more I know about your dogs, the easier it is to plan a session around how they actually behave instead of how we hope they'll behave.
The aim of the session is to capture each dog's personality, which we'll talk about during the consultation.
The Goal Isn't One Perfect Photograph
When you bring multiple dogs to a photography session, of course I want to create a great photograph of everyone together.
But that isn't the only photograph that matters.
I want the photograph of all three dogs together.
And the portrait of the dog who has been with you the longest.
And the ridiculous expression your youngest dog makes when they're excited.
And the photograph of the two who are always together.
And the one of you with the dog who follows you from room to room.
Your dogs don't suddenly become a single subject simply because they live in the same house.
They're individuals.
They have their own personalities, relationships and roles in your family.
A multi-dog photography session gives us the opportunity to photograph all of that.
So bring the whole crew.
They don't have to behave perfectly.
They don't have to look at the camera at the same time for two hours.
And they definitely don't have to sit in a perfect little row for the entire session.
We'll figure them out.
One dog, two dogs or the whole pack at a time.
Planning a Photography Session for Your Dogs?
List of Services
-
My Dog Won't Sit Still and Can't Be Off Leash. Can You Still Photograph Them?List Item 1
High energy, unreliable recall and a leash don't prevent us from creating great photographs.
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Should You Be in the Photos With Your Dog?List Item 2
Why stepping into a few photographs with your dog may matter more than you expect.
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What Happens During a Dog Photography Consultation?List Item 3
See how we'll plan your dog's session around their personality, your ideas and the photographs you'd love to create.
