Getting your pets in the portrait
If you’re anything like me, your pet is 100% part of your family. They are always there with you, and you have an unconditional bond. I have an old labradoodle called Digby whom I rely on totally. He’s always there for me, and I love him with all my heart. When I’m spending the day editing, he sits outside my office door waiting for his lunchtime walk. He’s always there with a waggy tail and big grin when I come home (even if I’ve only been gone 10 mins!). When you have a pet like this in your family, why wouldn’t you want to include them in your professional family portraits?
Cambridge family photography
I love photographing the relationship between families and their pets. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not a ‘pet portrait’ photographer… I’m a people photographer that also enjoys photographing ’emotion’. Making beautiful and meaningful photographs of people requires you to show their feelings. To make the photograph mean something, you need to capture the emotion. You need to show the relationship between those people, or in this case case, between people and their animals.
Around three quarters of the family photo shoots I host involve pets. People want to have beloved memories of their precious pets, and the special relationships they have with them. I’ve noticed that even the most nervous of my subjects visibly relax in front of my camera when their pets are with them!
Memories to treasure
When you look back through your family photos over the years, what do you want to see? It’s not always the perfect ‘line-up’ with everybody smiling at the camera… It’s the emotion and the relationships within your family. The parents love for their children… The children’s innocent and carefree lust for life… and of course, the four-legged friends that share your life, and become 100% of your beloved family.
Booking your family photography session
If you’d like some beautiful family portraits, you can find more details about my family photo sessions here. If you’re ready to book and would like to secure your session date, pease drop me an email on louisafrenchphotography@gmail.com or fill in this form.
Louisa Williams is a family and children’s photographer based near Cambridge and working throughout Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and the surrounding areas. You can see more of her current work and enquire about commissions here and can follow her on Facebook and Instagram.