Secret photoshoot of Hamish the whippet

I love a photoshoot that’s part of a secret mission. Whether it’s photographing a surprise engagement proposal or creating a hush-hush birthday or Christmas gift, there’s something about the effort that goes into delighting a loved one that I really enjoy.

In this case, Barbara, from Marsh Gibbon in Oxfordshire, wanted to give portraits of their dog, Hamish, to her husband for Christmas.

To keep it a surprise, our pre-shoot chat (where I find out exactly what a client wants from their shoot), the shoot itself and the portrait reveal would all need to take place while Pete was out at work.

Barbara and Pete have owned terriers before, but always wanted a whippet. They love how gentle and loving this breed are, and started buying and reading books about them a few years back. Eventually, they decided to go ahead, getting Hamish when he was a puppy two years ago.

On the day of the shoot, Barbara, Hamish and I set out on a loop near her home. We’d agreed this route at our pre-shoot chat, as it would give us a wide variety of settings for the portraits, from open fields to more urban features. Barbara told me that it was very characteristic of Hamish for him to hold his ears up and out, so I made sure to prompt this expression in him and capture it in as many portraits as possible.

Hamish loved all the extra attention and was the talk of the town throughout, with passers-by stopping to admire and stroke him. Seeing the camera, people asked us if Hamish had a burgeoning career in modelling.

“I’m getting portraits of him to give to Pete at Christmas,” Barbara said, “But it’s a surprise, so don’t tell Pete you saw us!”

Our secret mission was now in the hands of half the village, but happily everyone kept their word and stayed quiet.

We walked on, and the colours in the foliage were magnificent, perfectly bringing out the hazel in Hamish’s eyes:

After seeing the images, Barbara chose three of them to go in a montage frame, with a white Heritage moulding and white mount. I delivered the wall art to her, checked she was happy with it and held it up in the space in the kitchen that Barbara had chosen to hang it. It was the perfect fit 🙂

The wall art comes in a large protective box and we joked about how much wrapping paper it would need. After I said my goodbyes and started reversing out of the driveway, I saw Barbara head to the boot of her car and pull out three rolls of festive wrap. She flourished them in the air in salute before heading indoors to secure the wall art from peeking eyes.

Then it was a case of hiding the whole thing until the big day.

So what did Pete think of his gift? Barbara emailed me shortly after Christmas to say, “Pete had no idea about the pictures until he opened the pressie Christmas night! He is so pleased with them! Thank you so much.”

I may not be an official elf in Santa’s workshop, but I still like to think I’m contributing to a little Christmas magic for my clients’ loved ones 🙂

Afterwards, Barbara said:

“A massive thank you to Sarah for her amazing pictures of our dog Hamish. She worked so well with him to produce the most beautiful photos which get complimented by everyone. Excellent service and would definitely be using Sarah within the future.”

Barbara, dog photography client from Marsh Gibbon, Oxfordshire

If you’re interested in dog photography in Bicester or Oxfordshire, please get in contact. You can email me via [email protected] or submit the form below:

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

(c) Sarah Plater Photography