Lessons
Day 1
1Day 1 Pre-Show
07:46 2Working with Animals
40:48 3Shoot: Nikki and puppy "Gus"
15:38 4Shoot: Laura Jean and her two dogs "Faith" and "Codi"
26:36 5Shooting Tips
18:58 6Different Types of Portrait Sessions
19:37 7Consultations
27:29Shoot: Brittany and Andi with their dog “Marley”
13:10 9Shoot: Lee and cat “Harley”
15:02 10Shoot: William and cat “Herbie”
15:31 11Shoot: Shayla with 3 dogs “Aballah”, “Blake”, “Brody”
23:06 12Shoot: Brett and dog "Issabeu"
16:32 13Shoot: Gill and dog “Pumpkin”
17:02 14Family with their dog “Bean”
28:32 15Breaking the Stereotype of Pet Photography
24:07 16Day 1 Wrap-Up
08:07Day 2
17Day 2 Pre-Show
09:16 18Day 1 Image Review
12:40 19Marketing, Networking and Advertising
1:09:58 20The Pet'ographique Experience
58:31 21Adoption Portraits
12:42 22Products Unique to Pet Photography
04:48 23Running Your Business
42:42 24Thanks + Credits
03:20 25Shoot: Family with Farm Animals
47:12 26Day 2 Wrap-Up
06:33Lesson Info
Day 1 Image Review
I'm going to start the day off today, actually showing you all the images that we shot yesterday. So I went through. I was up all night but did a little slide show to start with. And then I'm going to slow it down after the slideshow and actually kind of show you some side by side, some Siri's that I put together That would be good selling things to the client, so we'll look the slideshow for So these are all images that we shot yesterday at the workshop. Hey, it's always interesting to see people's reactions from what I was shooting and then what the images turned out. Like sometimes people are like, Really, That's not what it looked like when I was sitting behind you. And I would always say that when my girls would do adoption portrait, it's And in the beginning, you know, like I was like, OK, I'll just make the noises. You just shoot. And from my angle it always look good, and I'm like, OK, we got it. And then when I looked at on the computer, I'm like, No, we didn't get it. I thoug...
ht we had it. So it's always just interesting from my angle in the camera, and that's just photographers what we see. So I just wanted to go through, and it's kind of show you some of the images slow them down a little bit. This is actually something that we would show a client in our slideshow after, and we did the client with her dogs. So that's something that we would want to sell its a wall portrait by itself. But this is something, and that's what I was talking about with the head shots. That's why we did the two different head shots and facing, and you can do those head shots with them looking at the camera. But you already have the group shot looking at the camera, so it just kind of nice to get that angle. It's I usually like the animals looking in as opposed to looking out of the image. That's why I had them on the side that they're on. But this is something that we can cells. Ah, collage. So this is one print that we can put three images on, or it can just be a suggestion, so I can say this is a way that you can display the portrait's at home if you want to get three individual images. So this one here, like you said, that's just it's a shot the owners will always by no one else gets it. No one else will want that image except for the owner. But it always sells for the owners because they they know that they were looking at them. This shot was very impromptu. I just threw it in there cause we weren't posing it. Her hair is kind of hanging in her face, but we're trying to get the dog set up. And she just looked down and started kissing her. And I said, Do that again really quick. So things like that happen. And that's like pumpkins image when she was upside down. Just go with it. Don't be like No, no, get up. You know, just just go with it and take a shot of it. Of course, the baby I love this one. So ah, so now on the color's perfect to just a compliment, his coloring. So this next. When I said this when we were shooting totally wonky, he's all crazy with his legs and his ears, all crazy, but you have to shoot it like that and don't fix them if you want to fix them for another shot that take a puppy shot like this where they're just crazy and they don't know what to do with their feet because they're so big and all that. So this is also an idea when you guys air like we're time but yesterday, creating lifetime clients when you do a session like this suggested to them, Let's do it on the couch like this that has the backing and you can see his head at the top and have him come back in six months or haven't come back when he's full grown and do the same shot with him sitting on, you know, and his head's gonna be this far above the couch. So it's just a cute thing to put next to each other, and everyone loves that. There's no owner who's like, Oh, okay, everyone's like, Oh my gosh, it's the best idea I've ever heard. So just something I think about whenever we photographed puppies. We always say that, and we always make sure we pick something as opposed to the shepherds where they were on the blanket with the blue background. That's OK, but if you do a puppy session, add something in there that you can use for reference. Yes, so you can have a couch like this, or a pillow or anything and use that same pillow or that same couch when you do the next session just to show you a Siri's. So they're very small differences. But to the owner, I mean, they wouldn't be able to pick one book. I don't know. I just have to have them all. So it's just a good little Siri's, and you want to make sure that you're zoomed in the same amount and that their crop the same amount. So when you're putting three side by side, you're not once full length ones, a head shot. So this next one is my favorite image ever. It almost brings me to tears. And it wasn't even if it wasn't even a moment that they plan and you could never plan a moment like this, and if you wanted them to recreate it, you could never do it. But it's just the sweetest thing in the whole world. So again, this is more of an owner shot. It's not something you would want to print for Mom. It's not some you would put on the front of holiday card, but that an owner would not be able to pass that up again, just capturing her goofiness. We're trying to get her to sit up in labor, find cool, let's get a goofy shut and you want to lay upside down this one here. I just wanted to show you just two different poses, so they're sitting the same. But that's just when I switched the two dogs. It's personal preference. Owners are going to pick the image that they like. Better of expressions. It could be the composition could be off. They're going to pick the best expression. But I'm just showing it to you so you can see it's kind of a little more balanced on the right. So there's not that dip. So the bigger dogs in the middle. But they everyone did a really, really good job yesterday. All the models with clothing, so those were all really good examples on this is perfect what she's wearing, and it looks really good with the teal couch, too. That's the question Yeah. Please. Do you think owners I know myself personally. If I were looking at photos, I would be like, What picture do I look good in? Is that just me? I'm the only one that I wouldn't. I mean, if there's long is the dogs have their eyes open. I would be like, What do I look like in the photo? Yeah, that's true for owners. I found it, so No, I think so. But like I said, I'm really casual when I'm shooting of people. I don't get really crazy about exactly how their hands on exactly how their head is. But I am very conscious about how they look, So I do. I mean, I am keeping that in mind whether it's, you know, keep your chin down a little bit or just lean in just a little bit or whatever it is. So, yeah, someone's not gonna buy some of that. They don't look good in, so Yeah, it's the whole package. You got to get the whole thing. You do. So this is just another Siri's to show you. So that's why we did the individual shots again. Make sure they're all head shots. We have one dog facing, um inwards, and you don't want that wants to be on the left hand side looking out because they're just not connected with the rest of the group. So this next shot is actually another example. You can show clients, and again, this could be a collage. This could be a page in their album. Or this could just be a suggestion to sell more gift prints. Okay, that's your wall portrait on the top. So let's get these three in the same size and display them underneath. And when you do a collage, the thing is, when you're talking to your clients, if it's a collage where all the images are in one print, I don't want to use the word stuck because that sounds negative. But they're stuck with those images always together. If you sell separate prints, you can sell it as you know you can keep it together or if you redesign your house, then you can move it around and you can separate the prince. So just something to keep in mind when you're selling. If that matters to your client, so these two here just to show you I was trying to show you when we're shooting yesterday. Just a huge difference between the dog being hunched over her years air up in both shots, But it's just such a huge difference. So all I do in those is just walk over and just put my hand up in every single time. They just lift their head up, walk backwards and shoot. So don't keep making noises because they're not gonna pop their head up. They're just gonna keep staying there. So walk over, you know, lift your hand up, get their head up, and then shoot Huge difference. This one here was just showing you if we had done a consultation with her. I need a vertical image for this. I need a horizontal image for this. So just imposing ideas, having both those shots horizontal and vertical. So the family I love this shot. I'm really happy with how it turned out. That's right out of camera. There's no retouching, and I didn't have time to retouch any of these, So these are all at a camera. But I would show when I'm doing the slideshow for clients and doing the sales presentation, I would show both of the thes images. They're very similar, but on the left hand side it's a little bit softer on everybody on the right hand side. It's a bigger smile on everyone. So give the clients the option. I try not to show clients too many images. That's why I said I try and narrow it down to 25 so they don't come in and go, Oh my gosh, how am I gonna decide? But I would still at least show these two images because I think there's a big difference and expressions this one here. This is the what we were talking about with the baseboard. So this was shot on the ground, and if I wanted to just have the floor, you could actually stand above them and just shoot down, and you could have had the whole floor. But we shot both. So we had the baseboard from day one, and that was just putting them on the ottoman. So lift him up. Remember doing that? So just a little bit cleaner. It's less busy
Class Materials
bonus material with purchase
Ratings and Reviews
a Creativelive Student
I've watched A LOT of CreativeLIVE courses and Arica is by far the most effective and talented instructor I've seen. She's also got an extraordinary ability to photograph animals and their humans while remaining calm and in control. Even if you're not a pet photographer, this is a fabulous resource. Putting aside how amazing it is to watch her photograph in what seems like impossible situations and get the shot time after time, she also gives a lot of great information that applies to any professional photographer, whether they photograph pets or not. She's truly an amazing talent and I hope she does many more workshops -- I'm not a pet photographer but I'll watch all of them.
CB
Arica's presentation was extraordinary. Such an incredible amount of valuable, practical information on everything from the basics of how to run a business profitably to how to attract and maintain value-oriented clientele to actually working with and photographing a variety of pets and their people. Arica demonstrated time and again during the live shoots that she was in mastery of both her techniques and her subjects, and in a way that felt simultaneously relaxed/casual and businesslike. That last session with the horse, duck, chicken, rabbits, dogs and people was a challenging balancing act and she pulled it off flawlessly. Finally, I appreciate all the detail she provided, such as names of vendors and how and why she uses each one. Absolutely no filler, all substance. I am in the process of taking my own pet photography from sideline business/ volunteer work to profit-making status and the timing of this program could not have been better for me. I'm a huge fan and look forward to more from her although it’s hard to imagine that there is anything left for her to cover about this topic because in this course, she did it all. A natural talent: smart, great on-screen presence, honest and a true teacher. Thank you, Arica!
a Creativelive Student
Hi I am an aspiring pet photographer. I own 6 dogs and 4 cats that have been rescued in some way. I have learned a lot just by practicing with them. Arica's course today and yesterday showed me what I was doing wrong and everything that I was doing right. I impressed myself that I actually was doing very well. lol. I do have a web site http://squeakynes.wix.com/lisas-creations ,and if you can review it and give me some positive critism, it would just be terrific. There is a tab titled pets etc. My email address is under contact me. Thank you in advance. I tried to watch other courses but none of them would keep my attention. I had no problem with Arica AT ALL. I definitely will attend all and any other courses she offers. Her courses made me realize this dream of mine is just what I am suppose to do in life. I have a lot of the same qualities as Arica and my passion for animals. But...............I WILL NOT photograph snakes, no way. lol Arica, you TOTALLY ROCK. I look forward to the next one. xoxo
Student Work
Related Classes
Portrait Photography