Butts are cute too

As pet photographers I think we sometimes get focused on those cute little faces looking at us and forget that dogs like all things have many different angles.

Some of my favourite shots I have captured have actually involved a canine butt….I know, I know it sounds strange but bear with me. How do we as humans generally know how a dog is feeling?……what’s the dogs big give away? ………

Ding Ding Ding! Yup! it’s tail so why not try and capture that happy moment of not just its gorgeous toothy grin, but its wiggly butt.

The first photograph I’m going to share with you I titled “I’m off on an adventure” as that is precisely what I believe was running through little Jelly’s head as she trotted off down the track to explore the Scottish Riverside.

Her tail is up and ears are pricked and I don’t need to see her face to know that she is super happy and nor will other owners of other dogs.

Pet photography, I'm going on an adventure, cocker spaniel, Jack russell, adventure time
I’m off on an adventure

The next photograph I am going to share is one from a shoot on a beach I did some years ago with a friend and her dogs, but it remains one of my favourites, but sadly I cannot for the life of me find the original hence the watermark and poor quality. (another lesson, make sure you securely store you photographs). But you get the idea!

Two super happy butts with a lovely reflection on the sand bounding towards the waves for a paddle. As I say they were my friends dogs but I cannot look at this photograph and not have a silly grin on my face as I share their joy in that moment.

jack russells, beach, dog photo shoot, canine photography
happiness is…

I think this is an important point that photography isn’t always about the quality and perfect capture of an in focus eye but the feeling you get when you look at a photograph, does it wow you? does it make you smile?

dog walking, pet photoshoot,
Millie’s marvellous mutts

Whenever I am doing one of my location shoots I will always ask the owner to walk away from me with the dog/dogs and they quizzically look at me as if to say you want a pic of my back? Then when the photos come through they usually love it as it is a quiet moment of no stress between them and their pet. The above photo has even been used as a silhouette for the clients dog walking business, she loved it so much she sees it daily on her truck.

Then we have an accidental butt shot where I hadn’t got back in position in time before the dog jumped…… you don’t need to see his face to know how much he wants that dummy! haha

gundog training, water dummy, jump, leap of faith, event photography
Jumping into the unknown! – a leap of faith

So I guess what I am trying to say is Ogres have layers and dogs have angles! Keep it in mind next time your on a shoot. 🙂

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Linda Perdue with VP Shoots Photography specializing in photographing pets and their families in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.