Pet Portrait Sessions

Capturing pet portraits around Western Massachusetts.

Because We Love Our Pets

Available Sessions

Standard Sessions

The Standard Session for dogs includes going on a little adventure through a park or hiking trail that suits your dog’s temperament and physical ability.

Senior Pup Sessions

Senior sessions are for older pups or those diagnosed with a terminal illness. These are available at a discounted price and short notice, if necessary.

Mini-sessions

Mini-sessions are periodically available with limited space. Stay tuned for announcements on Instagram.

The Pet Portrait Process

By booking a pet portrait session, you’re buying more than just a few pictures. You’re creating memories that you can display and share forever.

Initial Consultation & Scheduling

After I receive your inquiry, I’ll follow up with email. From there, we can schedule a call or an in-person “meet and greet” to go over further questions and decide on a time and location.

Meet and greets can be great for a lot of dogs, but they’re especially beneficial for nervous and shy dogs so that they can meet me beforehand and be introduced to the camera. These can be at your home or a dog-friendly location where we can chat. (I typically do meet and greets for dog-walking clients at your home, since that is where I would grab them, but that’s less necessary for portrait sessions).

When the portrait session date is set, I’ll send over the invoice for the session fee and a tip sheet that you can reference when prepping for the session, which will cover a lot of what we discussed during the initial consultation.

Portrait Day!

The whole experience will revolve around your pets and making sure they’re having a blast – the day is all about them!

This includes letting them decompress after the car ride, getting them used to the camera, and letting them sniff and explore their surroundings. We’ll have plenty of picture opportunities while they’re having fun and mix in posed portraits that incorporate the scenery and their favorite humans!

You are more than welcome to bring their favorite toys and treats for the session. Those are great for capturing their attention and using them as rewards to create a positive experience.

Gallery Delivery and Print Orders

After we have our photography session, I will deliver the gallery with Pic-Time, a wonderful gallery app that you can use to see your slideshow, download files, and order prints! I invested in this tool to make the experience as seamless as possible, but I will be available to troubleshoot any issues and send over helpful tutorials that you can follow along with.

All sessions include the option to download the full gallery of social media-optimized images and the slideshow to make sharing your portraits easy! There will be options for buying print bundles and full resolution images upon gallery delivery. Once your print order is submitted, it is sent off to a professional photo lab and then shipped directly to you.

FAQs

Yes! All sessions will be done on-leash unless your dog has underwent recall training and we are in an area with few other dogs. This is for safety reasons, and the leash will be removed with the magic of editing. Some locations require dogs to be on-leash at all times, so we will always comply with these regulations.

Wearing a harness to the session is ok. We can take it off at the location for photos and put it back on as necessary.

In addition, we won’t use retractable leashes. They can be a safety liability and may make it harder to control the dog when needed. I have long lines as an alternative.

Not at all! I fully understand that not all dogs warm up to strangers right away or may be a bit nervous of the camera. A free meet and greet before the session can help by to giving your dog the chance to meet me and help get them used to the camera.

Some of my pet care clients who were nervous of my camera now happily sit in front of it because they know there are treats involved when I bring it out!

Yes! I would love to capture photos of the people in your household with your dog. The dog will be the main focus, as always 🙂

An additional session fee my apply, depending on the extra amount of people involved from outside the household.

It depends on a couple factors, including your location and where you think your dog will be the most comfortable. If your dog is reactive, we will choose a quieter location.

For example, Fountain Park in Wilbraham or Dufresne Park in Granby have nice walking trails and a field that are great for pictures but commonly has off-leash dogs. Trails like Mount Marcy or Rice Preserve are often quieter.

You can expect your gallery to be delivered in 3-4 weeks. The timetable for artwork deliveries once ordered will depend on the photo lab.

The full gallery will include 40 images, at minimum.

Yes! I am willing to travel throughout Massachusetts, Southern Vermont, and Connecticut! Depending on the travel distance, there may be an additional travel fee added onto the session fee.

I am most familiar with parks and trails around Hampden County, so I am open to recommendations for shooting locations near you. If you’re unsure if I’m willing to travel, feel free to send me a message anyway.

Absolutely! This is something we can discuss further, as cats can be uncooperative at times (especially with strangers). And I haven’t had any opportunities to photograph anything that wasn’t canine or feline, so I’m very interested in expanding my horizons. Please get in touch!