This week's pet photography blog theme is "Paint it black" - and for me, this is a look inside what happens when we go to photograph a rescue dog.  As we started our setting up to photograph Trooper, his foster was busy taking photographs of us and was kind enough to share them with me so I can in turn share with you our experience.  Just in case you were curious - it seems that many of the people we meet and take photograph of their foster dogs really enjoy watching and being a part of the entire experience.

So, without further discussion, let's get a look at how this all happens for us.  First, let me introduce our model for this photograph session, Trooper.  Trooper came to us from the Pasco County Animal Shelter (hope I got this correct) after being hit by a car.  Unfortunately for Trooper, he took the majority of that hit in his face and more specifically his mouth area.  Lucky for Trooper, Maxx and Me Pet Rescue stepped in to help save his life (for more information on Maxx and Me visit their facebook page or maxxandme.org).  When we met Trooper we had all these great ideas as we stepped into his backyard and saw the possibilities - of course, it was up to Trooper, was he willing?

Most all the shoots start with a little bit of attention, loving, and letting the dog(s) greet us.  It's always better if they have a little time to get to know us before we start trying to work with them.  Trooper getting ready to give Jim some love!

Here we are setting up our gear.  Greg is setting up the softbox and lighting.  I'm getting my camera ready and Jim is getting our model ready (Trooper).

Depending on the dog and their personality, we may choose different lighting.  In this case, Trooper was being very good so we set up a softbox beauty dish on a light stand with the Flashpoint AD200.  This provided some nice lighting for Trooper since the background was much lighter than where Trooper was sitting.  That's Linda (me) holding the camera taking photos of Trooper.

Greg is shooting photographs of Trooper while Jim is holding a squeaky toy (little alligator) to get Trooper's attention.  I'm hidden behind the guys, but still there!

Just in case, we always look at the photos after we have done a good group to make sure that we are leaving the shoot with several good ones to help the rescue dog find their forever homes.  Here I am showing the foster mom one of the photographs - blow it up to make sure it is sharp on the face.

Hanging out with our model, everyone gets to take a short break!

And here's a few of the final photographs that are helping Trooper to find his forever home.  UPDATE: Trooper has a new family! He was adopted just over two weeks after we photographed him.

And with that, our photo session is wrapping up, one last photo with all of us for Trooper's foster mom.

Trooper, Linda (sitting with Trooper), Jim on the left, Greg on the right.  That's a wrap for this session - it was a pleasure meeting and working with Trooper and his foster mom - he was such a great dog and has been through a lot in his short life.

For more pet photographers sharing their take on this theme, head over to visit Elaine Tweedy of I Got the Shot Photography, capturing pets and their people in Northeastern PA and surrounding areas and then head around the rest of the blog circle.

If you would like to book a custom pet portrait session, send an email to [email protected] or give us a call/text Linda at 813-610-2671 in the Tampa Bay area (Florida).