Dog Photoshoot with Fergie the Shar Pei

There were many first during this dog shoot over the weekend. It was the first time I met a Shar Pei in person. It was the first time I used my new Nikon D700 on a gig. It was the first time in a looong time I came away with less than 900 photos in one session (I go overboard), and that was due to this being the first time active shooting lasted around 30 minutes. That’s it! Just 30 minutes! Usually I average about 1.5 hours, and if you have a puppy, make it at least 2. But despite being a ribbon-winning show dog, Fergie is shy around strangers, so her mom wanted to keep the shooting time at a minimum. She told me upfront that she was going to be happy with whatever I come up with so not to worry – she plans to have me out again to do more anyway, she said. I love you, I said!

I’ll admit though that I was a bit thrown off by all this at first, and wished I had brought my hip flask with me. But the hyperventilating really picked up when I saw on the walls photos of Max the chocolate Shar Pei, Fergie’s predecessor, shot by none other than Amanda Jones. Amanda Jones, who is not so much a pet photographer as she is THE pet photographer. Her work of Max was all over the house. I was like OMG what! Am I doing! Here! Fergie’s mom only recently acquired her, but decided pretty soon afterwards that Fergie needed to be photographed like Max. So she called. (me!!) Max by Amanda Jones, Fergie by Fat Orange Cat Studio. !!! The woman is like a Patron of the Animal Arts. I lurve her. So much.

The building up of confidence is going to be an on-going thing, but I will say that I was really happy with the shots I was able to get in such a short period of time. So here is Fergie in her first photo shoot. She did beautifully (as did my new camera. Love love love)!

I was debating whether or not to post the below photo.

Fergie’s mom made a mention of Fergie’s unmentionables, and namely how…pronounced…they are…I mean there’s no denying it so let’s just all acknowledge it right now, her hooha says HELLO HOW ARE YOU FINE WEATHER WE’RE HAVING! and as a kind of joke I suggested capturing her backside up close in the way of Georgia O’Keefe…I didn’t get quite so macro afterall, but I really like how in this shot she’s standing at the intersection of two spotlights, backside taking center stage. And I think it’s a little artful and was captured tastefully. Maybe.

Lots of treats to keep the model happy.

And that’s a wrap.

Thank you Fergie! Looking forward to shoot #2!