About That Puppy Photo Shoot...

With 10 puppies in the house, I didn't have to think too hard about what I wanted to include in this month's blog header.  ;-)  Just so I'm never tempted to hang up my shingle as a pet photographer, here are some behind-the-scenes pictures of how that photo shoot really went.  ;-)

As soon as I hung up the sheet I wanted to use as a backdrop, Willow came over and got it dirty modeled for me.  Kind of her, wasn't it?  

Then Tobin sat down, and I quickly put all 10 puppies with him...and Willow, protective mom that she is, stuck her nose right in the middle of everything to make sure her babies were OK.  "Well, of course they're OK, Willow!  Don't you trust me?"

I coaxed her out the door with a treat, then quickly shut it and started snapping pictures.

Because I knew I only had a very short amount of time, I didn't take much time to fiddle around with camera settings; and because I wasn't getting crisp pictures without the flash, I ended up using it for a few photos--something I rarely do when photographing my kids--just to make sure I could get something that wasn't blurry.

Willow quickly devoured her treat and came back to the door, peering in at Tobin while he looked back at her.  "Not much longer, Willow!"

I tried to get some without the flash (faces look SO much better without it)...

...but too much motion made them blurry.

Still cute though.  :)

We finished up in a hurry and let Willow back in, simultaneously scooping up the puppies and putting them back in their box.  Before we could get to this one however...

...Willow did.  She nuzzled her close to her, and Redemptress got some alone time at the milk bar--a rarity indeed!

I've taken more pictures of animals in the past two weeks than I have in the past 10 years. When these dear little puppies all depart for their next homes, I'm sticking to easier subjects to photograph--like a mug of hot tea!  ;-)