Christmas Pet Portraits are Always Adorable and Never Get Old

Christmas Pet Portraits are Always Adorable and Never Get Old

Christmas pet portraits are great for holiday cards.  This session came about because one of my favorite clients, Amy Strunck, co-owner of Grace Park Animal Hospital, purchased a gift certificate from me this fall.  She was going to give it out as the first place prize in a Halloween contest that Grace Park was holding on Facebook.  You can see that Chance, who won first place, is adorable as Mini Mouse! 

Sarah, Chance’s mom, scheduled a pet portrait session with me earlier this month.  We shot with some awesome holiday decor and Chance even sported a festive tie.  Although I can kind of picture him in a boardroom wearing that tie too, right!?  ; )  She ordered a few photos to be used on her Christmas card this year, as many of my clients do.  I always put dogs on my business Christmas card, so I understand!

Here are a few tips for getting great Christmas card photos, with or without pets:

Pick a color palette and use it in all of your photos.

When you are designing a Christmas card, it is best to have a consistent color palette so that the photos work together and with the design of the card.  When I shoot pet portraits, I use things that are already in my clients’ homes.  For example, the red background that you see in the first photo below is a throw blanket that I draped over the front of the couch!  Since it also matches the decor in the living room, all of the photos work nicely together.  Sarah and her boyfriend also did a great job in wearing red, which ties in the red color to the outdoor photos.

If you are doing your own portraits, shoot a mixture of closeups, 3/4, and full length photos.

A layout of photos looks nice with some variety.

When choosing outfits, stick with a color palette, but don’t go matchy-matchy.

The days of family photos where everyone is wearing all white or all whatever are behind us, folks.  Try wearing different tones of 1 or 2 colors and you will have a seamless but tasteful family photo.