Making A Less Than Perfect Location Work!

As a dog photographer, I’m always looking for perfect settings, considering factors like light and scenery. However, a unique circumstance arose when photographing an elderly dog with limited mobility. Despite initially planning to shoot in their yard, it didn’t meet my vision. I drove to the back parking lot of a medical building across the street. Drawn by glimpses of ornamental grasses and some beautiful light I hoped we could make that location work. The owners agreed to drive the dog across the street.

I had to quickly come up with a plan and ended up doing a speedy session in the parking lot’s island area with small evergreen trees and mulched ground. I was concerned about the outcome as I wanted to provide the owners with images they’d love. And it worked out; the charm of the senior dog and some Photoshop creativity turned the parking lot into a convincing forest setting, resulting in some beautiful artwork for the owners.

I had another photo session at our local university – I love shooting there. I had images I was pleased with, but I was still missing one, commonly called the “Soul Searcher”. This is a photo where you have the dog look straight into the camera and focus on their eyes. It’s nice to do a shot like this surrounded by flowers or greenery. I was initially going to photograph this sweetie in a bed of tulips, but she was so small, and the flowers were too tall.

We were heading out of the parking lot when I noticed some pretty purple flowers planted around the parking attendant’s booth. We put her in there, and by working my angles, I created an adorable photo that her mom loved. You’d never guess she was sitting in a tiny patch of flowers in the middle of a parking lot.

In both sessions, the situations were different from what I had in mind, and the location could have been better, but it’s amazing what you can achieve in a less-than-perfect setting when you open your mind to the possibilities.