Dog collars – what should my dog wear for their shoot?
In an ideal world where dogs are perfect and always sit adoringly at your feet I would prefer dogs to be free of any dog collars or leads on their shoot. This means there is less to distract from them.
I however am a realist and understand that most people like their dog to have a collar on for safety. Although I do ask that the collars that they wear are not too bright and distracting.
I also ask that if possible people remove their dog’s ID tags before a shoot as most people do not want their details showing on a photograph, especially if they want to share their photos on social media.
If all else fails there is always editing
That said collars and tags can be easily edited to fix any issues they might present, unlike the dreaded harness that is much more difficult to edit out, but not impossible.
One more no no for a photoshoot is a figure of 8/head collar, whilst they may be helpful for helping your friend not pull your arms out of their socket they do not look great in photos.
Remember we are creating photo art for your walls! You would want to look at your best in a photoshoot and so does your four legged friend.
I know I have just gone through what I don’t want dog’s to wear in shoot. I am however a big fan of long lines. They enable dogs with poor recall to still be able to run safely so I can get some action shots. Unlike harnesses the longlines are usually fairly straight forward to hide.
I am also a fan of the odd accessory for special shoots like Reds bow tie for woooing the ladies below.
Whilst we are talking collars and leads I cannot go without plugging my hobby of making paracord leads, collars and lanyards. Find out more here.
The cartridge dog collar lanyard and lead collar, lanyard, heeling lead and lead
Around the cirle
I am part of an amazing group of pet photographers that do a weekly blog circle. All you need to do is follow the link below to the next photographer in the circle and do the same on their page and so on until you find yourself back here. The circle will take you on a trip around the world where you can read top tips from other fabulous photographers.
Courtney at CM Bryson Photography in Atlanta, Georgia shares her best collars for dog photography.
Wow! I would love to see a video of your harness removal. That is an amazing edit, my mind is completely blown!
Great harness removal edit. I have now told my clients I no longer remove harnesses from photos if they need to have their dogs wear them. It takes way too much time. I love your paracord work! Beautiful.
I agree. Your harness removal edit skills are the bomb! I’d watch that video too. I just checked out your paracord work and it’s really unique.
Long lines for the win! I love using long lines and they are usually pretty easy to edit our of the photo. BTW…the first picture of that puppy is so cute!
Look at you with that harness removal. That’s something I make clear I won’t do, often because it is so hard to accurately rebuild fur patterns or because the harness affects the folds on skin or creates shadows beyond repair.
Wow, that’s quite the job on the harness removal and your paracord work is beautiful!