Last spring I was approached by Pets Plus Us, a new Oakville-based pet insurance company, looking to create imagery for their brand.  The company’s mission is to be a champion of pet owner happiness by providing peace of mind to clients who purchase insurance for their cats and dogs as well as acting as a community resource for all pet owners.  Pets Plus Us wanted their brand imagery to capture the happiness found in pet owners and tasked me to the create this for them.

For most commercial photography campaigns I make use of professional models – both human and animal – who are used to being photographed and know how to pose for the camera.  In this instance though Pets Plus Us wanted to make use of their own staff members, their staff members’ families, and their very own pets.  They thought this would be a great way to capture the true bond between pets and their owners.  The Pets Plus Us team is comprised of a dedicated group of animal lovers who were eager to take part.  I loved the idea and was excited to get started on the project.

I knew going into the shoot that it wasn’t going to be easy to get our amateur human models to look comfortable in front of the camera and to simultaneously get their animals into position, but I was confident in my ability to pull it off.  With lots of treats and toys Angus, my resident animal handler, was able to work his magic with the dogs and cats while I coaxed the humans into natural poses and captured photos that highlighted the special bond between them.

Throughout a very long weekend of shooting at my Toronto studio, I met lots of great dogs and cats along with the friendly Pets Plus Us team.  I successfully created a wide variety of photos that encompassed the company’s vision for its brand.  The company has used the photos in print advertisements, on their website, and in social media, to build their client base and work towards their mission of being a true champion of pet owner happiness.  Be sure to check out their website, which has lots of great resources for all pet owners across Canada.

For most photographers a photoshoot centred around animals would be considered a serious headache.  Dogs and cats are notoriously difficult to work with, particularly if they aren’t professional working animals.  Add an amature human model to the mix and there is bound to be trouble!  I was approached about just such a project by Nestle Purina.

One of Purina’s core principles is that pets and people are better together.  Anyone who has ever had a pet can attest to the fact that bringing a dog, cat, or other animal into your life can change you in a profound way.  For someone without pets it can be hard to understand how special these relationships truly are.  Purina of course gets it: Not only are they a leader in the pet food industry, but their employees are animal lovers themselves.  Purina wanted to highlight this in a series of photos that they’d be using for online marketing.

In order to capture the essence of these special relationships we setup a mobile studio at Purina’s Canadian head office in Mississauga Ontario during their Take Your Dog to Work day event. Most Purina employees can actually take their dogs to work any day of the year, which is a great perk for their animal loving team, but they make a special day out of it once a year for everyone to take part.  Throughout the day I met dozens of loving dog owners and their wonderful canine companions.  My animal trainer Angus worked with each dog to get them comfortable while I photographed the interactions they had with their owners.  The special bond shared between them is obvious in the photos that I captured.

Last year we were contacted by Caroline, who was looking to commission portraits of her Golden Retriever Lily for her beautiful modern home in Toronto’s Lytton Park neighbrouhood. She had heard rave reviews about us from a friend and knew we were the right photographer for her. We met with Caroline for her portrait consultation where we learned about Lily’s unique character and what Caroline envisioned for her artworks. Lily was six months old at the time and is very playful and loving. She also enjoys being the centre of attention and sometimes achieves this by causing a little bit of mischief. Caroline wanted some beautiful portraits that captured Lily’s adorable puppy stage of life. We couldn’t wait to get started.  

When Caroline and Lily joined us at our photo studio, we were greeted with a surprise. Just the day before Caroline had welcomed a new dog to her family and brought her along for the shoot. Jillian is her name and she’s a slightly older Golden Retriever from the same breeder as Lily. She is a sweet and calm girl with a beautiful coat similar to Lily’s. Since the girls are related somewhere down the line, Caroline decided she’d refer to her as Aunt Jillian since Lily and Jillian sounded too similar. As our photo shoot began Angus used treats to get the dogs comfortable in our studio, and also with each other. He then broke out his arsenal of dog toys to get Lily and Aunt Jillian into more energetic and dynamic poses. Using these different techniques, Angus was able to help Jason capture shots that perfectly highlighting the girls’ individual personalities and newfound friendship.

At Caroline’s ordering session we presented her with our favourite images from the photo shoot, and particular arrangements that we thought best exemplified her vision. We helped Caroline to narrow down her favourites and finally decided on a triptych of two 24” x 24″ and one 24” x 30″ metal prints with silver flush mount frames. These pieces are a classy and timeless addition to Caroline’s home, and fulfilled just what she was looking for. She also chose some of her other favourite photos to be made into a session album, which is a beautiful addition to her coffee table. These images really captured the beginning of Lily and Aunt Jillian’s life long relationship and will surely put a smile on Caroline’s face every time she sees them.