Pet portraits/lifestyle sessions are the absolute cutest! Being an animal-lover myself, I am obsessed with getting to photograph families and their fur-babies.

Dani

A couple of years ago, we met Dani and her boyfriend at the gym. She and I quickly discovered that we had a lot in common. Most specifically, we’re both Disney fanatics and obsessed with anything furry and feathery. So needless to say, there have been a ton of hangouts at her place and mine (saves us money from going out since we’re both content hanging out with the furbabies).

At the time, Dani only had her three cats. Since then, she’s rescued one kitten and now…

She’s the proud mama to a baby girl (puppy)! She’s been waiting literally YEARS for this moment and that moment has arrived!

Documenting this was so crucial for so many reasons:

• Dani has never had a puppy and has waiting 20+ years to have one she could call her own.

• Puppies, like babies, grow up SO fast!!

So once the puppy got settled in, we scheduled the pet portraits and lifestyle session ASAP.

Pet Portraits

I always recommend doing pet portraits in the comfort of your home. This is the case especially with cats. Have you ever tried to take cat portraits inside a studio or anywhere other than a home? Because I have (granted it was my own cat and it was just outside of the house) and it was NOT successful!

The best tips for a lifestyle session is to:

De-clutter the home, and keep any room we may use clean and organized.

Open up all the windows for available light and turn off all the artificial lights.

Pull out any props and outfits needed so we can quickly grab them as we need them.

Keep treats handy, ALWAYS!

But the BEST tip? HAVE FUN! I know it can be stressful knowing there’s a camera following you around, but the more you stress, the more things seem to get even more stressful! Let things unfold the way they will.

And that’s exactly what Dani did. She let her furbabies run the house and do what they were going to do, and we just went with it.

Lifestyle Photoshoot

Queso, Dani’s puppy, is a SPAZ! All she wants to do is run, chase cats, and chew!!

Thank goodness mom is prepared with a BASKET of TOYS!!

We decided to let Queso do her thing while we let the cats have their moment.

First up: Mayday. Mayday was the most recent rescue and she was so young when Dani found her, that she had to be bottle-fed. Now, she’s quite the cat with a huge personality and the need to torture her fellow siblings!

But it looks like Mayday has found her match in Queso. Queso loves torturing Mayday!

Next cat: Belle. She is as pretty as she is sweet. Although often shy, if you speak “cat,” she will happily come out from under the bed and converse with you.

Then there’s Ganja. No, Dani didn’t name her. She came with the name and I personally don’t think she lives up to it. But we love her as she is.

As does Ranger, who can be found kissing his sister in the next photo:

We took a break from the cats to let Queso out for a potty break. This, in itself, is a process since she came back with dirty paws!

Last of the cats is Ranger. He is Dani’s first ‘child’ and the man of the house. The most social of all the cats, his favorite pastime is laying on your chest and legs.

By this time, Queso had worn herself out! And we were able to capture some ‘newborn’ photos of her!

It’s the itty-bitty paws for me!

Passed out! I guess the photoshoot really did wear her out!