Holiday Family Photos… But Bring the Horses and Dogs
“You can’t stop smiling. I can tell you’re enjoying this.”
That’s basically what Kim told me during this session, and she was right. 😂
This was completely different from the family sessions I normally photograph. Instead of meeting a family at a park, I drove from Phoenix to Coolidge to photograph Kim and her wife at home—with their horses and their dogs. Apparently, I couldn’t hide how much fun I was having.
How This Session Happened
I originally met Kim through my full-time job working in real estate media. She’s a real estate agent, and eventually that connection turned into her becoming one of my own photography clients.
Kim was looking for family portraits that she could use around the holidays and send to her real estate clients. And when your family includes horses and dogs, obviously they need to be in the pictures too. There was just one little problem: I had never done a session like this before. 😂
I’ve photographed plenty of families. I’ve photographed little kids who don’t want to look at me, and I’ve photographed big groups where somebody is always blinking. But horses? This was new. And honestly, that’s probably part of why I enjoyed it so much.
When Your Pets Are Part of the Family
One thing I learned very quickly is that photographing animals is a lot like photographing little kids. You can have a plan. You can have an idea of what you want. And then they’re going to do whatever they want anyway. 😂
When I arrived, they were expecting that I might come with a lot of photography equipment, lighting and this big setup. Instead, I wanted to work with what was already there and keep things relaxed. Of course, I wanted a few photographs where everybody was together, but I didn’t need every horse and every dog staring directly into my camera at the exact same second for the photograph to matter.
Looking back at these pictures, that’s actually one of my favorite things about them. There are portraits of the two of them together, photographs with the horses, photographs with the dogs, individual portraits and those little moments in between. The animals are just being themselves.
And while I might not know each animal’s personality after meeting them for one afternoon, their people do. They know the expressions, the habits, which horse always does that thing and which dog has that look. That’s what makes photographs with your pets personal.
And Since We’re Here… Let’s Get Some Business Portraits 😂
Because Kim is also a real estate agent, we took advantage of the location and photographed some updated business portraits while I was there. And I LOVE these.
A business portrait doesn’t always have to mean a studio, a gray backdrop and a suit. Your portraits can actually look like you. For Kim, being photographed in jeans, boots and a cowboy hat with the horses behind her made perfect sense. It shows so much more personality than trying to turn her into somebody she isn’t.
So yes… we came for family photos and somehow got a little branding session too. 😂
This Session Put an Idea in My Head…
By the time I drove back to Phoenix, I knew this was something I wanted to do again. And apparently, we’re doing exactly that because Kim and I already have another family session planned for this October. ❤️
But this session also planted another little idea: pet photography. I’d love to photograph more families with their animals—not just dogs and cats, but apparently horses too. 😂 I’ve even caught myself thinking about someday doing pet photography events where I bring a backdrop and create portraits of people’s dogs.
Is that officially something I’m offering yet? Not exactly. But I’m putting it here because maybe a few years from now I’ll come back to this blog and realize this session was where the idea started.
For now, here’s what I know: if you’re thinking about family portraits and your pets are part of your family, bring them. They don’t have to sit perfectly, and they don’t all have to look at the camera. Apparently, neither your photographer nor your animals need to know exactly what’s going to happen.
Sometimes that’s what makes it fun. ❤️
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