Pennsylvania dog photography session
Last fall I flew up to Pennsylvania and my hometown of State College. It was a whirlwind weekend. Since it was homecoming at Penn State, I marched the streets of downtown representing the Gulf Coast Florida chapter of alumni (one of 3 people from the sunshine state!), attended a rainy football game on Saturday and visited with family members. In between, I also photographed a family of 5 dogs and their people.
Like typical weather in Happy Valley, we were welcomed with cool temps and overcast skies. Boy, I don’t miss that at all! It did rain too (no surprise), but I did get the photo session in before the rain clouds showed up.
I’ve photographed this family before, when there were only a family of 5. Since so much had changed and the dogs had gotten older, the family was looking forward to updated photos. For a session like this, having dog wranglers was a big help and since one of the rescue dogs was a bit shy with strangers, I was grateful for the aid of a friend who she felt comfortable with.
We met at Bernel Park, which is just as lovely as I remembered, especially in the fall. The fall leaf season was just about to peak, making a backdrop of warm hues perfect for the setting.
In these situations, I like to capture all combinations, so I began with individual photos of the dogs, then the westies, and the scotties. Once we got the dogs all settled down, I invited their people to jump in for a wonderful family photo. Seven individuals is a lot to manage, but after getting everyone into place, a few duck calls and some laughter, we nailed the shot.
Moving on to a photo of all 5 dogs, it took a team effort to get them to all line up for me. We let the dogs decided who they wanted to stand next to and we ended up with an Oreo cookie - dark exterior sandwiched in between a white fluffy interior. Funny how that worked out, isn’t it?
It only took a couple of clicks to get the group photo, thanks to the hands of everyone involved. Incredibly, this is not a composite, that is how well the dogs cooperated.
Earlier in the morning, the day of the session, I took a drive to check out the park. I found a couple of really nice pockets that were especially perfect for a backdrop. With the sky darkening quickly, I was glad I had this all figured out beforehand. We headed over to our next spot and photographed until it was literally too dark to continue.
One thing I miss about living in Pennsylvania is the fall foliage and cooler evenings. It was a delight to photograph in these conditions, I only wish we had a nice sunset, because the light at this park as the sun sets is absolutely delightful!
With my family still located in central Pennsylvania, I will undoubtedly be back for more visits. If you would like to set up a photo session with your pups, contact me.