For years now I’ve been asked if I would ever do an educational pet photography retreat, my answer was always no. My worries? Well I’d panic about it being good value for those attended, provided the experience that they expect, it’s a massive undertaking to do alone and if I’m perfectly honest I was doubtful of my ability to survive a week in a house with strangers. But in May this year I helped host Not a Retreat.  We booked a big house in Aberfeldy gathered a bunch of pet photographers from all over the world, hung out and photographed dogs.  This wasn’t an educational retreat but ..read more

For years I’ve always wanted to go a Bark pet photography retreat.  They have been all over the world – Spain, France, Costa Rica, New Zealand… but it’s difficult for me to travel and it wasn’t to be. The retreats are run by crazy talented photographers – Dog Breath Photography, Charlotte Reeves and Nicole Begley.  If you know anything about dog photography you will know those names.  You basically go live in a fancy house with them for a week, learn loads and photograph dogs in the most amazing locations – a dream right? You can imagine my excitement when I found out it was com ..read more

I had donated a shoot and a folio box as a prize for a Marie Currie auction, my favourite cousin(well only cousin) works there and is always really good to me, and it’s a worth while cause. Maggie’s mum had the winning bid.  Originally we had planed to get her in sooner while she was still younger but covid had other plans! However we got there and Maggie was an absolute star, I’m sure posing is bred into French Bulldogs. During a Mutley’s Snaps Studio Shoot it’s not about capturing one good image, it’s about being able to present you with a full gallery of images that you love. Not every ..read more

With times being a little uncertain I thought I’d try out something a little different. If you have previously been in for a shoot I can take one of your images and turn it into an image that is ready to print onto Christmas cards. The images will come with added snow and a choice of Christmas message on the front ie “Happy Christmas” “Merry Christmas from the Smith Family” “Happy Holidays from Oscar and Pippa” etc. Just let me know what you would like. If you ask really nicely I could probably rustle up some reindeer antlers to further embarrass your dog I will prepare the image ..read more

I was never a big fan of white backgrounds in studio photography. Mainly because they are all too often done poorly. Come you have all seen those terrible school photos against the the white… you know the ones. Then for a commercial shoot I had to shoot against white. I absolutely loved the images. Clean and simple, that’s always what I’ve been drawn to in the studio. I thought I’d share some of my favourite images against the the white – puppies, grown up dogs, cats, guinea pigs and a rabbit ..read more

I often get asked what gear I use when creating the images for Mutley’s Snaps, so I thought I make a wee blog post about it. Cameras I’m currently shooting with a Sony A7R III and a Sony A7 III.  I shot Canon before but felt that there was so many innovations going on in the camera world around then, that they just felt a bit stale. What I really like about the Sony’s is the amazing dynamic range.  This really comes into play on location, you can really pull the shadows up in post by a good 2 or 3 stops without losing detail or introducing lots of nastiness… it’s just super clean. I also love ..read more

I received a message last year asking if I still had any slots for guaranteed Christmas delivery of wall art.  I said yes before I asked what the dog was.  Then I finally did ask and it wasn’t a dog but 5 – 2 boxers, 2 chihuahua crosses and a cairn terrier.  I’ll be honest I panicked slightly thinking what have I let myself in for.  I shouldn’t have worried they all behaved so well and it was great fun. I do love the challenge of shoots with multiple dogs, you never know how it’s going to go.  This one there was no photoshop involved in the group shots! There family drove a long way to sneak t ..read more

A little earlier in the year I photographed 12 dogs for the Staffordshire Rescue Scotland 2020 Calendar. They were all dogs that had been rehomed and settled into their new lives.  I had previously met some of the dogs when they were looking for home, so it was really nice to see them all settled in loving homes.  Sonny especially, when I originally met him he was extremely excitable and found it hard to control his mouthing – he didn’t mean any harm, he just got so worked up he had trouble controlling himself.  It was an absolutely pleasure to meet him again and to see how much more chilled o ..read more

The adorable Cleo came into the studio to celebrate her first year with her family after they rescued her. Cleo is everything that is great about staffies… happy loving snuggle monsters! If you are looking for studio photography for your dog or pet in Scotland why not spend the day in Falkirk and get some beautiful images like Cleo’s ..read more

I recently had Brodie in the studio for a Mutley’s Snaps shoot and I kind of fell in love with him. Not did he have the most beautiful golden hair but he was such a lovable guy, not to mention he had the whole modelling thing down to a fine art. We started with some nice portraits before moving on to silly faces and catching bubbles.  The bubbles were definitely his favourite, he put all his cocker spaniel enthusiasm into chasing them. The post Brodie the Cocker Spaniel – Scottish Dog Photography appeared first on Mutley's Snaps ..read more