Studio Dog Portrait Session with Coco

Much-loved Coco is an adorable three-year-old Shih Tzu. She came in for some studio dog portraits last weekend and stole my heart, too.

Coco was one of the amazing pets I photographed during the first of the Limited Edition Dog Portrait Days I’m offering at Whitelands Farm Sports Ground Pavilion in Bicester. She was brought in by her warm, friendly and altogether lovely owners, Amanda and Alan.

Each dog had a 15-20 minute shoot (twice as long for two or three dogs) on two different studio backgrounds: black and white. We started Coco’s shoot on the black, which contrasted nicely against her light-coloured fur:

Coco had a pampering lead-up to the session, with a trip to the grooming salon a couple of days beforehand. This short gap gave her fur time to settle back and look nice and natural in time for her photoshoot, as you can see here.

After a few more frames on the black, my assistant and I switched over to the white studio background:

The reduced contrast provides a more gentle, harmonious feel to the portrait and a luminous look to Coco’s fur. You can imagine how soft it would feel – especially the fur just below her collar.

Time for a close-up! Coco sat watching me with big, curious eyes, so I couldn’t resist zooming in for a few portraits of her face:

Amanda and Alan told me that they particularly love how Coco looks when she lies down, with her paws scooped together in front of her. I always want to capture a pet’s personality and characteristics, so we tried to encourage Coco to settle into her trademark position.

All this attention was a little too exciting, however, so Coco strolled between us looking for strokes and cuddles.

Then, as I started focusing on Amanda while chatting about what happens next, Coco lay down and cosied up, right on the studio stage. I picked up my camera as quietly and calmly as I could and was rewarded with this portrait of Coco lying down:

Afterwards, Amanda said:

“Thank you so much for the photos, I love them. I can’t wait to see the prints!”

If you’re interested in dog photography for your four-legged best friend, please get in contact by emailing [email protected] or submitting the form below:

Sarah Plater is a dog portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

(c) Sarah Plater Photography