It is hard to come by siblings that don’t have their fair share of differences, especially where there is an age difference of several years between them. Sister Black labrador retrievers Ruby and Maggie are the perfect example of this. Their owners, Barb and Robin, came to us earlier this year after receiving one of our gift certificates for Christmas.
We visited Barb and Robin at their warm, arts and crafts home in Toronto’s Hogg’s Hollow neighbourhood to learn about their dogs. Ruby is the little sister and being only a year old she’s quite the crazy girl. Wiggling and jumping around, she is always full of energy and ready to play. Barb and Robin wanted to capture this youthful spirit in Ruby’s photos. Maggie on the other hand is the big sister at seven years old. Like most big sisters, she is more quiet and sensitive. Barb and Robin love how Maggie makes different facial expressions when they speak to her. It’s as if she is taking part in the conversation. Her beautiful feathered tail was also important for us to capture in her photos. We then spent time learning about Maggie and Ruby as a pair. Even though Maggie does enjoy playing with Ruby, playtime is always on her terms since Ruby’s youthful energy can get a little annoying at times. Being retrievers, these dogs love playing tug-of-war with sticks and fetching tennis balls, so we knew our collection of toys would definitely have to come out for this photoshoot.
Barb and Robin had a specific vision in mind for their artworks. They wanted three large pieces to hang above the couch in their family room. The photos needed to capture each dog’s unique personality, as well as their special sisterly bond. One of their most important requests was to ensure that the dogs’ beautiful, shiny black coats would be highlighted in the photos. Many people struggle to capture great photos of their dark coloured pets, but with the proper lighting and photographic techniques this would be no problem for us.
On the day of the shoot, Ruby and Maggie had their game faces on and were excellent to work with. They were easy going but ready to play whenever we pulled out their toys. Being labs, they also loved getting tasty rewards for all their hard work. We learned key words that Maggie liked to hear and she was happy to show off some of her adorable facial expressions when we started speaking to her. We were sure we had the perfect shots of each dog individually, so we broke out their sticks to capture photos of them playing together.
When we later met with Barb and Robin to discuss image selection and printing options, they were drawn to our metal prints with silver flush mount frames. They decided on a 30” x 30″ metal print for each of the dogs’ individual portraits, and a 30” x 40″ metal print for their portrait together. The couple also decided to order a session album, since we had captured so many great photos of their dogs. We were very pleased with how everything turned out – another great holiday gift from Jason KB Animal Photography.
A few weeks ago we received a call for a commercial animal photography shoot from a Toronto based company looking to promote their pet safety campaign. The images would be used on the company’s website and in press releases sent to media outlets across Canada and the United States. The photos needed to be of excellent quality with the animal subjects posed in fun and dynamic ways. The company had heard of our reputation for excellence in animal photography, so we were their go-to choice for the shoot.
We approach commercial photography shoots quite differently than a shoot for our fine art clients who are looking to create artworks of their pets. Commercial clients have a very specific purpose in mind for their photos and the photos need to stay true to their brand image. Of course, we still have to fulfil Jason’s artistic vision for the photos as well. All of this leads to a set of unique challenges.
The company needed their photos to really grab people’s attention to create buzz for their campaign. They decided to focus on safe costumes, since the campaign was taking place just before Halloween and they reasoned that everyone would get a chuckle seeing dogs all dressed up for the occasion. Anyone who has tried to dress up their dog can tell you that it’s no easy feat. Most dogs just prefer to be naked! Getting the dogs into their costumes would be a challenge, but it would be even trickier to make the costumes look good on film and to make sure the dogs looked like they were happy to be all dressed up. Thankfully we have a lot of tricks (and treats!) up our sleeves!
The company did a great job choosing costumes for all five dogs, which made things much easier for us. The costumes needed to be safe, so they couldn’t have any parts that the dogs could grab onto (and eat!) and they had to fit well. Once the dogs were dressed up we fixed up their outfits with double-sided tape if they didn’t fit perfectly - a handy trick that Jason picked up on fashion photography shoots. In addition to this it was Angus’ job to continually adjust the costumes between each shot to make sure they looked great. Of course he also had to make sure the dogs were having a great time so that they wouldn’t look self-conscious in their hilarious costumes. Angus kept all the dogs entertained by playing games and dolling out treats.
The client was thrilled with how the photos turned out and they were able to successfully leverage the images to gain media attention for their campaign, helping keep our furry companions out of harm’s way. Another successful project at Jason KB Animal Photography.
Every year around this time we see an increase in clients looking for Christmas gift ideas. Last year, we had Melanie approach us with a vision for a Christmas gift for her husband. Their three year old Border terrier Easy holds a special place in the couple’s heart and she thought some photographs of him would be the perfect addition to their home, and a great surprise for her husband.
We traveled to the Bay-view and York mills area in north Toronto for a consultation with Melanie in her beautiful home. She and her interior designer created a contemporary space with a mid-century twist. It was warm and inviting, and we were promptly greeted by Easy. It’s always interesting to get a first impression of a client’s pet. We could see right off the bat that Easy is very playful and friendly. We sat down with Melanie and she gave us some more information about her dog; he’s intense and determined, but loves bouncing around and making funny facial expressions. She decided that she’d want to focus on Easy’s fun loving personality and that is the side of her pet that we would really focus on when photographing him.
After the consultation, we sat down and discussed how we would best be able to encapsulate this little dog’s big personality. Melanie told us that Easy loves food, chewing on things, and chasing things about. It was clear that we had to bring out our squeaky stuffed animal toys to really capture the friendly and energetic side of Easy. Sometimes our clients approach us and have little to no idea of what they want, only that they love their pet and want to hold on to their unique personality through photography. Melanie knew what she wanted and that her and her husband would hang Easy’s artworks in a prominent location in one of their stairways. After the photoshoot Melanie surprised her husband on Christmas morning, and a few weeks later came in with their interior designer for an ordering session.
We were so excited to show Melanie the photographs we had captured on our big screen projector, and discuss printing and framing options in our ordering session. Melanie, her husband, and their interior designer were immediately drawn to having these photographs as metal prints with black flush mount frames. We agreed that six 20” x 20” photographs would fit perfectly in their space and add a unique touch to an already stunning home. We had a great time helping Melanie carry out this surprise for her husband and we’re glad we could add a timeless and sentimental arrangement of art to their home.
