A photo shoot

I've been wanting some photos of me and the dogs; of course I'm never in any pics, I'm the photographer. So as a shoot was cancelled yesterday I thought I'd give my timer a try. I got out my tripod and my camera; got everything set up. Then I called the dogs and got everyone situated on the couch; making sure to leave room in the corner for me. I set up Luke first; he is the easiest to adjust so I get him set. Next is Tilley; once set she is difficult to move around, especially now with her whole crooked state. And then I plunk the boss in; being only 15 pounds she fits into the mix nicely. But like Tilley once she is placed she doesn't like to move.

I fussed with the focus; got all the settings right for my photo and pushed the shutter button. I flew across the livingroom and jumped onto the couch; trying to look calm and natural. I'm not sure how many times I did this but I'll tell you I felt like I got a good workout. The dogs were great sports; they watched me intently as I fussed around. Being that Jessie was placed on a pillow on the couch she took advantage of her comfy spot and fell asleep. Tilley was the most awake out of the bunch and watched as I moved about. Several times through the shoot I decided to change outfits; the dogs even stayed in position for that.

I wish I had a remote; I'll be looking into getting one of those fairly soon. For each photo I had to wiggle out from the dog pack and go focus and push the shutter again. The dogs were amazing; I thought my up and down might get Luke fired up, he is easily charged but he just watched. He's a pro at having his photo taken now; after 8 years on constant photo shoots he should be. Tilley sat like a statue and Jessie just fell asleep. Keeping her awake was a job it itself; being nearly deaf I was yelling just to get her to hear a little. Running, jumping, yelling and setting up, geeesh.

I got one half decent shot of me and the gang. I've decided to do this all again but with my daughter as my photographer. She has taken the best shots of me and the dogs over the years so hopefully we can do that in the next couple of weeks. After my shoot I removed the difficult part of the shoot (me) and got some shots just with my guys. They are so good; shows how easy a shoot can be if the dogs are well trained and use to being close. It wasn't always as easy as it is now; many dogs don't like to sit quite so close and my guys are no exception. It's been alot of repetition, that paired with a calm state from me and now they are use to the touchy feely shoots.

It takes a relaxed state to get a good shot of dogs; you have to know how to spot stress. Even though it is not asking alot of a dog to just sit there; many dogs who are not accustom to being asked to do anything have a difficult time with it. Many dogs becomes quickly stressed when asked to just sit and stay in a certain position. They immediately think something is up "Mom has never asked me to do this before." So; obviously the more different situations you put your dog into and the ore you ask of them the more at ease they are each time. But throw a human into the mix and again you need a bucket of patience.