Having a pet is signing yourself up for a lifelong companion. Back in 2019, we came up with the bright idea to celebrate our furry friends with a fun, out-of-the-box shoot. Our portfolio is full of model shots with people, why not shake things up a bit by capturing photos of our beloved pets instead?
Coming up with this concept was a fun exercise for us. Pets doing human things was one of our most powerful and thought-provoking topics because of how it subverts our everyday lives. Our pets often watch us conducting our day-to-day activities, so it’s a little weird to see them performing those very same activities! Determined to realize our vision, we reached out to people on social media, asking them if they would be interested in volunteering their pets for the realization of our little photoshoot concept.
What started out as a fun little project for the Paperboat team became an amazing experience as we received hundreds of messages from interested fur parents regarding our invitation. Of course, with the team juggling this on top of other client commitments and projects, it was impossible for us to accommodate all of our pawsome friends for a photo op.
In order to keep things fair while still creating a diverse portfolio of pet photos, the team opted for a general rule of selecting only one dog or cat per breed and to try to fit all shots within the scheduled studio time frame of 9 am to 5 pm. As it turns out, snagging photos of our pooch pals and cool cats isn’t all that different from the processes and logistics needed for shooting human models! Each approved pet came with their own concept ideas and sketches that we specifically created for them. Though like any other shoot, these concepts would be used for references rather than something inflexible for us and the pet owners.
Come the day of the shoot, we created a system wherein each pet and owner had a set call time. Shoots were conducted both in the morning and afternoon, and we did our very best to keep our canine and feline friends apart. Fortunately, most of them actually had great, friendly personalities that made the shoot a much smoother process. The difficult part was of course, following our concept sketches given the nervous energy that the pets likely had around strangers. The Paperboat team was super thankful for the fur parents that helped us keep the peace and shoot the perfect poses!
Despite the obvious challenges, this pet photoshoot was definitely one of the more memorable ones that we have had the chance to snag as a team. A repeat of this fun experience will always be a welcome one!
Scroll down to spot some of our favorite snaps from the shoot!
