Enzo | State College pet photography session

Shy, nervous, scared, stressed. These aren’t exactly traits I would describe as my ideal pet client. Yet, Enzo was definitely one of the best dogs I’ve ever photographed. When his mom contacted me, she inquired about setting up a studio pet portrait session for him. Knowing I shoot outdoors on-location, she was hoping I’d have a recommendation for a studio photographer. I suggested I come over and meet them at their home to determine if there was enough space for me to bring my studio equipment. 

Enzo is a sweet, eight year old rescue Italian greyhound. As soon as I met him, I knew why his mom was concerned. He definitely needed some time to warm up to me and no doubt any sudden noises or other dogs would having him feel worried and unable to relax during a photo session. So we went ahead and set up a date for his session, for sometime after he recovered from dental surgery. He’s already lost several teeth and had to have 2 more extracted. Which leaves him with just 3 teeth left! This just goes to show how important good nutrition and diet are early in life.

I was a little nervous about how Enzo would do when I brought all my gear in and set up, but he was fine. Happy to see me, as though he understood this afternoon was about to be all about him! He rocked his session allowing me to capture all kinds of poses and facial expressions. We finished after about an hour when he was clearly tired from the hard work of posing, listening to all my crazy noises, and eating treats for rewards. 

Enzo’s mom wanted a portrait to add to her wall collection of portraits of her canine family. She had worked with a photographer where she lived previously who had photographed two of her other dogs. It was important to her to have something different yet that captured Enzo’s true personality. A large part of our discussion when choosing the final portrait was Enzo’s ears. As with many sighthounds, their ears sit in a variety of positions depending on their emotions. In the end, she picked the pose with one ear up and one down - the way his ears are most of the time!