(Almost) anywhere you want! We'll pick either a studio or on-location session based on your (and your pet's) preferences. My studio is just outside of downtown Cleveland (but with free parking!) and is in an old warehouse. I do use strobe lighting, but have become quite skilled at desensitizing nervous pets to the flashes. But if you and your pet have a favorite place where you love to go, we can head there. I even do backyard sessions for those pets who are especially particular! During our consultation call we'll talk about what you think would work best for you and your family. Locations more than 50 miles from my studio may incur an additional travel fee.

First off, I generally encourage you to allot 2 hours for your session, just in case it takes your pet a bit to warm up to me and what we're asking them to do. 

Additionally, there's very little I can't deal with when it comes to particular pets. For one, I have shared my life with a lot of animals that had varying levels of stranger danger, various phobias, and touch sensitivity. Additionally, because I've been working with animal rescue organizations for over a decade, I've dealt with animals with just about every quirk you can imagine. I have also been trained in Fear Free techniques, which means I know warning signs if your pet is not comfortable and have techniques to deal with those.

For example, if you really want to do a studio session, I first make sure the animal is comfortable with the space, including the sounds and the studio lights. If they are not and it looks like they won't come around, I generally encourage clients to head outdoors with me. My studio is in an industrial area with great brick walls and we're also just down the street from a park, both of which can make awesome backdrops for your session. 

My goal is to make sure everyone is having FUN! If we're not, we try to different things to make sure we get back to that state.

Read more about how I work with particular pets in my blog post HERE.

Absolutely not! In fact, some of my favorite sessions are of pets just being themselves. For studio sessions, it's helpful if your dog knows how to sit, but it is absolutely not necessary. For example, my client Tracy brought her pups to the studio when they were in full-on puppy mode (i.e., had the focus span of a fruit fly) and she mentioned to me "my favorite pics are usually ones where it captures the dogs personality- doing things it does naturally. I get stressed trying to help get the perfect pic and ended up liking the outtakes the most." In case you want to see some of the images she was talking about:

I always tell my clients that I will add plenty of images to their "b roll" and often, these are the ones they (and I) end up loving the most because they truly capture their pet's personality.

I know it's not "cool," but I'm a rule follower. It took me a long time to come to terms with it, but it really is who I am. That said, I will rarely encourage you to take your dog off leash in a public space. It can not only become dangerous for your pet (and other pets in the area), but it's also illegal in many public places in Ohio. For outdoor sessions I will generally carry unobtrusive leashes with me so that if I need to edit them out after your session, I can. I also encourage you to bring a leash that you like the look of because sometimes it's just going to look better with the leash in the photo, especially if the humans are in the photo as well.

As for harnesses, collars, gentle leaders, etc., those can often be a bit more difficult to remove afterwards. If your dog absolutely must be on a harness or gentle leader, I will ask you to use it until we get to the spot where we are going to photograph them, but then if it's safe, we'll remove it for a few minutes to get their images. I discourage the use of prong collars and e-collars during sessions, as these are almost impossible to remove when editing.

Before editing:

After editing:

I tend to underpromise and over-deliver. I promise a minimum of 20 images in your gallery with a full session but typically deliver well over that. When your gallery is ready you will receive an online link so you can review your images and purchase a collection.

Collections start at $400 and most include a combination of digital images and print credit to use in my online store. I am a big proponent on not letting images just live on a hard drive somewhere or, even worse, on social media. I recently had my social media hacked and lost everything, so it really reiterated to me the importance of printing and enjoying our favorite images.

For print products, I use high quality third party printing services. This means your images will look how they are supposed to and are printed on high quality materials. The wall art, folio boxes, and albums are truly a work of art, which you deserve. After all, our pets are family and deserve spots on our walls, mantle, and albums right along with the rest of family.