Introducing Hounds of Hong Kong’s Studio Dog Photography Mini Sessions
You might wondering why a dog photographer who is known for her deep, dark and moody outdoor portraiture is photographing dogs on loud colourful backdrops inside the studio. The answer? Giving dogs a much needed break from the rising heat and humidity, but still proving how they can have a great time on a photography session.
Don’t worry, I haven’t completely lost my marbles, as there is still a compromise for me - I’m getting my moody fix by also offering fine art style portraits in the mini session too.
Studio sessions can actually be enrichment for your dog
Your dog no doubt has the time of their life when you play tug or fetch with them at home. Sometimes you might give them a licky mat with some dog-friendly peanut butter, and you’re probably also frequently training them with high-value food rewards too!
If your dog loves doing these things, then they’re going to absolutely love a studio session with Hounds. Why? Because it’s basically all of that rolled into a manageable 30-minute session that will leave you feeling very pleasantly surprised, and your dog ready for a well-earned nap.
As soon as I roll out a paper backdrop, my own dogs go and lie themselves down on it. They know that it means lots of snackies are about to literally be thrown their way, they’re going to get loads of praise and positive attention, or they’ll be catching their favourite tennis ball. They love it because they get rewarded for everything, enjoy loads of play and brain games, and we keep things relatively short and sweet.
How the mini sessions work
It’ll be just you and your dog in the studio with me.
You might be imagining an uncomfortable conveyor-belt of dogs all in one room being thrust under lights startled and then rushed back out again, but that’s not what the experience will be at all.
Each session has 15 minutes either side to allow for all of the important things: desensitising the new arrivals to the flash (snackies necessary) and making sure the place isn’t completely crowded with dogs. During your session it will only be you and your dog (or dogs if you’re bringing two). A photograph won’t be taken until I am confident that a dog isn’t fazed by anything unfamiliar to them, and you’ll have me all to yourselves for the duration of the session. However, we’ll just be taking dog portraits this time!
I will have an assistant who will be checking in clients, be on hand to distribute the all important rewards, and be my eyes and ears while I am focusing through the viewfinder.
Fine Art style portraits will be one option on the day.
We’ll shoot some classic portraits first in a fine art style set up, which will be the calmest part of the session. Then, we’ll bring the fun and games on a bright block colour paper backdrop: think treat catches, lick shots etc. - controlled chaos, essentially. If (and only if) your dog is up for it, we can even try for a backdrop burst shot. However, please keep in mind this is absolutely no guarantee, as it isn’t something all dogs would be happy to do.
Once you get home, you’ll probably find that your dog will sleep for a good few hours because the whole experience was so mentally stimulating for them. A pretty great way for them to have spent 30 minutes if you ask me.
But what do I - the human - get?
Even 6 month old Bea got comfortable in front of the lens!
At this point, you’ll have completely forgotten we did a photoshoot at all. After all of the brain games and enrichment, you still get some fantastic offerings with your mini session.
Before heading home, you’ll book in your image reveal appointment where you’ll swing by Hounds HQ to see the results of your session. You’ll view a slideshow of a curated gallery of the session images and get help making the all important decisions about what you’d like to take home.
The Vintage Frame - perfect for Fine Art portraits.
Included in your session fee is a 6x8” fine art print (two different finishes on offer: a gloss for the bright backdrop images, or my favourite fine art rag for the portraits), which also comes with a matching social-media sized digital image for you to use on screen. Your printed image is also matted inside a sealed thick card window mount of a complementary colour, which protects it even more until you’re ready to pop it in a frame. The external measurements of the matted print are 8x10” which happens to be one of the most common frame sizes.
If you just know you will forget to frame your print, or have your eye on something even bigger and bolder, you can choose to exchange this option for HKD500 credit towards select items from Hounds’ stunning wall art collection. All wall art pieces offer the corresponding social media sized digital file alongside them as standard, so you can still share it online or set it as your phone background.
And that’s not the end of it! You’ll also receive a custom personalised surprise gift of your dog’s experience with Hounds of Hong Kong in the studio, delivered with your print or wall art order. I promise, it’s not a rubbish one.
Enjoy an outdoors session later in the year.
Finally, you’ll also be delighted to discover that all studio mini session clients will be presented with a HKD250 gift certificate towards a signature outdoors portrait session booked for the months of October or November 2023, so you can enjoy the full Hounds of Hong Kong experience in those months where the weather is more dog-friendly.
Hounds of Hong Kong Studio Mini Sessions are being held on Saturday May 27th 2023 at RH Studio on Hollywood Road. Snap one up through our online booking system now!