Pet Photography in the woods

Today I took my dog Sidney out to the woods to photograph. It is not easy to get the lighting right, particularly with a very dark coloured dog. He had some fun, though, jumping over logs and running through puddles.
Have you had experience photographing in these difficult lighting conditions? Share your comments here.

Dog jumping over a fallen tree in the woods

Dog on a fallen tree with mosses in the woods

Getting ready for the silent auction

Check out the Vancouver Sun newspaper article on this topic!


I recently had the opportunity to create a product catalogue for a silent auction to support a fundraiser for Clare Boggan. It was an interesting challenge. The photo shoot took place at a friend's house and in just over 3 hours I photographed about 40 products. It all had to go fast and I was not able to set up a seamless background, which would have improved the outcome. But overall, I enjoyed the challenge and I hope that the silent auction will be a real success!

I used an umbrella to light most of the items, except for pictures with a glass frame, for which I just used long exposure on a tripod. All the images were shot with my Nikon D700 and my 85mm f1.8 lens. (I love that lens!). It was good fun!

Studio photo session with dog Sidney

These are images with Mastiff/Labrador cross Sidney in a studio session. I'd be interested if you like the image with the dramatic portrait lighting. Do you think this works for a pet? How about the sleepy pillow image - do you like this or find it "too much". Leave a comment and share with friends.

Dramatic portrait lighting - does it work in a pet portrait?

Interesting eyes or a pet can get extra emphasis through an unusual crop. 

Sleepy dog with his pillow

Photoshoot with Kaela the Belgian Shepherd

Belgian Shepherd Kaela was at times quite aloof, showing me her beautiful backside... But we still got some nice portraits during our studio portrait session.

Fun pet portrait with Riley the Cairn Terrier

These are some images from a fun portrait session with Riley, a very pretty Cairn Terrier lady. We used two different backgrounds plus added some colour with a red bandana. Riley is very cooperative but can be very food focused.

Pet food - Garbage in - garbage out?

Today's post is about dog food. I have become passionate about feeding the raw diet to my dog based on my experiences with my last two dogs. Both of them were adopted being about 3 years old and both had serious digestive issues. My present dog, Sidney, was considered to be a dog suffering from EPI, a pancreatic insufficiency that can lead to a dog starving, even so it is eating huge amounts of food. It luckily turned out that he did not suffer from EPI but from colitis. And even more lucky for us, we overcame this by switching him away from all processed foods towards a diet that was initially based on cooked food. He had to take antibiotics for a very long time (about 3 months) and was then able to move slowly to the raw diet. Sidney is doing marvellously on this and could not be a happier dog.
I invite you to share your experience regarding pet food here.

ppp-photography - Petra's pet photography

Let me welcome you to my blog - Petra's Pet Photography. In this blog I will update you on what's happening in pet photography in Vancouver and the lower mainland. I will also work together with others in the pet industry, introduce you to their services and post on other topics around our beloved pets.

If you like what you see - pass it on, if you don't, let me know!