Selecting Your Photos
  When selecting the photos of your pet, it is always helpful if you can point out your favorite pose and the picture that gives the best color representation. Having an actual paper print photo is especially helpful for this. A clear close up of your pet's head is especially important, showing the eyes in natural light with another showing the full body if you are having a full body portrait. If you are unsure which photos would work best, just send them all and I will help you choose.

  Taking Photos Of Your Pet
  The photos don't have to be perfect and there is no need to worry about what is happening in the background as I will simply ignore anything not wanted in your final portrait. If you have to hold your pet for example, don’t worry about your hand showing in the photo. If you are having more than one pet in the portrait it is very helpful to see at least one photo with them together so I can get their relative sizes accurate.

  At least one of your pictures need to be very clear, showing detail in the fur etc, and representing the color well. Avoid strong sunlight or heavy shadows. Whenever possible, take your photos outside, preferably in the shade. A gloomy overcast day is perfect! If you are using a digital camera, remember that I can always do editing in my computer to the photos to help me, so don’t worry if they look too dark for example. If you are restricted to taking your photos inside, avoid using your flash if possible.
— One photo will be chosen as the POSE photo. This is the one that you have decided represents the desired pose for your final portrait.
— Another photo may be the COLOR photo. This will be the photo that best shows the true colors of your pet.
— Another photo or several other photos will be the DETAIL photos. These are the sharp close-up photos that I wish to have so that I can really see the clear texture of fur for example, or the eyes or nose. The more photos I have, the better!

  It is usually very helpful to have another person around to assist you, someone behind you with a toy or treat often works well for a dog for example. Take your pictures at eye level...this is very important. This can mean lying on the ground if you have to. With dogs especially, pay attention to the position of the ears. If your dog is alerting to a treat or a sound etc., he will perk his ears up and this always makes for a much better pose than if the ears were in a relaxed position. Also, decide if you would like the tongue to show or not. On an animal that is mostly one color, an all white or all black dog for example, it looks best if some of the tongue is showing, as this adds another color to your portrait, as well as a more happy looking expression. A mouth that is too much open however can look wrong also. (See my examples of good and bad pictures).

  Many people tend to look down on their pet when they are taking photos - this is natural as humans are taller than most pets and we look down on them and they look up at us, so the obvious angle to take a photo is to look down on the animal. However, this not only distorts the animal’s head but also give a wrong impression as to what the animal "really" looks like. The best way is to get down on the animals level so that you can take photos of the dog from its eye level.  

  Working From Older Photos
It may be that your pet is no longer with you, in which case I will do my best to create a lasting tribute from whatever photos you have. If the photos are not very sharp, they may be best used for a watercolor instead of a more detailed, hair-by-hair portrait, and again you must remember that the final portrait can never be clearer than the original photo.

So remember.....the most important things to remember when taking your photographs are:
Go Outside...Eye Level...Alert Pose... and above all ... THE MORE THE BETTER!