Really ridiculously good looking dog...

There’s a new model in my family!

For those of you who follow my Facebook, you’ll know that a few weeks ago, I went with my parents and our family dog, Jack, to have a photoshoot with Kelly from Hairypants Photography.

Jack is an important part of our family and it’s hard to imagine that before him, our last pet was a crazy little Jack Russell called Bobby, who we had to give away when we moved to Queensland (there was about thirteen years between Bobby and Jack). He’s everyone’s boy, but he’s Mum’s baby and I've been halfheartedly looking for someone to take some photos of him for my mum for ages. I stumbled across Hairypants when shoots were on sale, and after flicking through the albums on her Facebook page and hearing myself say “awwwww” about a thousand times, I booked us in.

The thing I noticed right away about Kelly’s work, before we’d even met in person, was that she just gets dogs. And she gets the connection that owners have with their pets. I’ve seen studio shoots that capture the animal’s personalities, but Kelly not only manages to capture this in her shots, she captures that bond; all those looks and licks and kisses, that make your pet special to you.

One of those special looks. Jack and his mumma

Before the shoot, Kelly sends out a client form and asks a lot of questions about your dog; their likes and dislikes, favourite treats, tricks, any particular looks and scenes you want to capture. Then she scouts out a perfect location and you meet her there. She prefers late afternoon “golden hour” shots, and my goodness, is she ever good at picking spots that look like you’ve been sitting in an enchanted forest for the afternoon (when we were just off the track in the Boondall wetlands, being eaten by midges!).

Jack did so well. He’s pretty well-behaved in general, but he responded to every squeak, or toy, or treat and gave so many different looks. He was so well-behaved that he was invited to another shoot a couple of weeks later to model for a friend’s new line of doggy harnesses, leashes, collars and accessories called Winston Manner (launching this month!). There were a few more distractions at this shoot (read: two other dogs), but Jack still managed to perform at his modelling best.

Jack and his mate Winston modelling for Winston Manner

It’s obvious how much Kelly cares about her work. She’s immensely talented, a lovely person and a photographer with an amazing eye. We can’t wait to go back for a whole family shoot next time.

I can’t recommend Kelly enough to those of you who have pets; book in, you won’t regret it. The whole experience was a pleasure for all of us, and we are beyond happy with the final shots! If you’re in Brisbane and do want to shoot with her, I’ve got some referral cards that will give you $50 off your shoot/photos. Leave me a comment here if you’d like me to post you one. Oh, and for those of you who have cats, horses, etc, she’ll photograph them too! I'll be posting some more pics from the shoot on my Facebook in the coming days, so keep an eye out for more cuteness!

Work it puppy!

So what do you think, does Jack need his own Instagram or what?