This summer (2016), my friend and neighbour Nadine asked me if I would do some pictures of her two dogs, Arlie and Bear.
Airlie is a rather cheeky Shar Pei, and Bear is a Newfoundland puppy, who is already the size of a small car, but thinks she is a lap dog!
Originally Nadine just wanted the shoot to be of the dogs, with the main focus being getting a great shot of Bear to frame for her home, but I managed to persuade her to be in some of the pictures too.
On the day of the shoot, Nadine drove us from Tewkesbury to a neighbouring Worcestershire village that I use on a regular basis.
Upon arriving at the location, we took a dog each and headed towards a beautiful countryside garden, where the shoot would take place.
The dogs were both super excited and in an unexpected turn of events, Airlie managed to slip his harness and ran out of sight! Thankfully we were in an enclosed area, so we were able to let both dogs race around enjoying themselves, without worrying about them getting out.
Whilst we waited for the dogs to calm down a little, we had a scout around the garden for some pretty places to take pictures.
With Bear being a puppy, she tired a lot more quickly than Arlie, so we began by getting some pictures of her. Black (and white) dogs are notoriously difficult to photograph, so I had to be particularly mindful of lighting.
I got some great shots of Bear alone, but my favourite shots are definitely those of her and Nadine together. You can see just how much Nadine loves her dogs, which is always an amazing thing to capture. We got some lovely pictures of the three of them together.
All in all the shoot was great fun, we got some amazing pictures, and Nadine was really pleased with the finished product – what more can you ask for!
If you’d like to see more from Nadine, Airlie & Bear’s shoot then take a look at the portfolio section.