Photographing your new puppy or your veteran canine model is not as easy as we'd like it to be but a few tips can be a big helper when it's "lights, camera, action time" to capture a portrait of your Golden friends. These precious moments can be archived for years to come and enjoy with a bit of careful planning and catching your dog in his or her regular day to day life. For starters, never be afraid to capture the sleeping Golden baby. It's natural, they are in their own environment and they aren't hopping all around and out of the frame of the camera as they seem to do so often. Amber had just waken when I captured this shot, she opened her eyes as she heard me sit down and prepare for the candid photography session of her sleeping. What a delightful surprise when this film came back from the lab. I had no idea what, together, Amber and I had captured.

I can actually show my photographs to Austin, our three year old Golden boy and he seems to understand more than I could possibly imagine. He reacts jumping with excitement, when I show him his own portraits. Lately, when I gather the camera equipment he now poses for me in anticipation of the session before I'm even set up, ready to shoot. Yes, it looses in the telling but he's quite the ham and some of his photographs seem to smile at us as shown below.

Try to capture your super-dog in their regular activities or in the play time they have around the house or in the yard. That can be a challenge but also a lot of fun. At times you'll have to be prepared to go through half a roll of film, sometimes more, to get that one perfect shot. Not to worry it's all good practice and a great learning process. Some of the over-shooting is due to the constant wiggling and waggling from a happy Golden, who are at times known to be a bit on the hyper side. But who said that brains always come perfectly packaged with boring, docile, poise? They are truly some of the most brilliant creatures on the face of the earth and that is worth more than words can possibly express.

One idea might be to get two helpers who can pitch a ball back and forth or just one that can get the dog fetch while you shoot the action. Leave a bit of extra space around the photograph as you shoot or "camera frame" it so that there is plenty of room to crop on the final shot. After all, the back end of your ball catcher and a wagging tail while the rest of the dog's body is out of the picture is a bit on the disappointing side when it comes back from the photo lab. This particular session is one of great practice for the most part, but can produce some fine results once mastered.

Any time your Golden has friends, such as ours who adore our cats, can create a great photo session such as this shot (shown right) of Amber with Sophie and Clyde, our Siamese when they were kittens.

At times we think the cats might have been taken from Mom too quickly as they actually kneed on Amber's stomach. They are either in complete comfort mode or reenacting the satisfaction they got from nursing as infants. Either way, it's made for some fun fur family shots as shown below.

The finished product has had a great deal of work from a computer art program but it's one of my favorites in our own private family album collection. Though not commercial in it's appeal, one can't be sure if Amber, the Golden is at rest with what's going on or if she's become Clyde's play time prey as we view this photo. Yet "Momma Golden" is surprisingly accepting as she lies there and lets Clyde kneed her tummy with claws out a bit too far for my personal comfort zone. I just marvel that she is such a tolerant dog with our cats. They are one big happy family, all five of them, and sleep in the bed with us at night.

Some careful planning and assessing what goes on in the family dwelling with your Goldens is time well spent in preparation for some great photographic art. Most common, even for myself, is to become used to viewing an animal's behavior and not really see it as a potential great camera moment.

Perhaps if one would keep a camera near by out on the coffee table, or on the book case, ready to go, we'd be more likely to see what is a picture perfect memory or what might be a creative idea we'd ordinarily miss. I've learned to do just this and keep the camera near by, ready for more film as the case may be, too. I caught this one, an ongoing occurance not having stopped to think what a photo it could be. Austin is rarely without his "Baby", his stuffed Golden. It even has to go with him in the yard, like a toddler with their blanket!

Photographing our Goldens is very satisfying, a great hobby and one can begin to enjoy it at any time. There is always room to learn more about this art form. Though I've had a camera in hand, either in video or still form most my life, I find that there is always something to learn and that makes it so enjoyable. Each new opportunity brings many unseen gifts when it comes to pet photography. They key is to relax, not be to hard on yourself. The thought is to realize that for every fuzzy dog only partially in a photo, there is a potential moment to catch a shot you'll enjoy long past the earthly life time of our pets. Goldens and all pets are our little angels we have ever so briefly in our lives. Even though angels have such brief life spans, they are one of our brightest blessings.

Fine Art Shack © 2003 - 2004,
Reprinted with Expressed Permission of the Author
All Fine Art, © Lar Shackelford, 2003 - 2004
Artist Retains all Copy Rights

by ©Lar Shackelford, Fine Art Shack & Shop at the Fine Art Shack Ebay Store!

Lar Shackelford is an award winning Associated Press News videographer creating original fine art. He is currently working with computer art, enhanced and perfected from his original still photographs. Shackelford also works with watercolors, oil, and acrylic paintings and an occasional drawing which is integrated into computer art. Utilizing these various mediums, through out his artistic process, Shackelford ultimately prints a finished piece rendered with techniques used by the very finest art publishing houses such as a French Giclee printing process. Some of the finished products are from photographs, some combine several mediums into the final image. Countless hours of work are in the art pieces, perfecting them prior to the actual printing process.

Shackelford resides in Texas enjoying 35 mm and two and a quarter camera formats. He finds his work behind the camera, be it video or still forms, has helped him immensely in his love and application of other creative art and for his latest variety of mixed media art. Shackelford's Fine Art Shack highlights Pet and Animal art and of course, the wonderful world of Golden Retrievers. The site also contains Custom pet portraits and Siamese cats, along with other great works. FineArtShack.com and is a recent recipient of the prestigious Golden Web Awards, the Artabus Golden award, and the Golden Artsy Award. Links to Lar's various online galleries are reached easily at his web site, or at Ebay.

This videographer took a paint brush in hand, having never painted before, and took off for realms beyond his wildest dreams. He continues to work with video primarily for his own artistic creations from his travels. He is still widely known across the Southwestern United States and respected for his expert video technique in shooting sports, particularly football. Be it brawn, blossom, or a furry family creature, Lar uses his creativity beautifully, each product in it's own unique spectrum.