Pet Photographers:
How Our Bunny Was Supermodel For a Day

Have you ever wished you could freeze your rabbit’s favorite pose forever? With a new crop of pet photographers out there, you can! With the right photographer, you will be able to get a great portrait, and have fun too. We recently had one of our rabbit’s portraits done by a pet photographer. We had a wonderful experience.

Last March, I went to a pet fair at a local convention center. A certain booth caught my eye- Mark Pastor Pet Photography. We had been thinking about getting portraits done of our 5 rabbits for a while, but couldn’t find the right person. Mark Pastor was having a drawing for a free photo session and portrait, so I entered. A month or so later, I got a letter saying I had won! Right away we were excited. It was difficult choosing which bunny to take, but Louie, our brown/fawn mini rex was the final choice. Mark Pastor had never done a rabbit portrait before, so we were all learning how to do this together. We weren’t sure how it would go, because Louie is a little shy sometimes, and afraid of heights. When we arrived at the studio, we knew right away that Mark was the right photographer for our bunny. He was gentle with her, and gave her time to get acquainted with her new surroundings. Then we began the photo shoot. Louie wasn’t a very good model at first. She just curled up into a football position for about 15 minutes of our time. Fortunately Mark was very patient with her (more than I was!). We decided to try lowering the table. Finally, Louie was starting to get comfortable. She began to look around and pose for the camera. We could tell she was enjoying this. To see if we could get even better pictures, we put her right on the background drop cloth on the floor. She really liked being down off the table. This is where we got some of the best photos. She was so comfortable; it was hard to keep her in one spot! After another 15 minutes of taking pictures, we put Louie in her carrier. Now the hard part began. Mark uses digital film, so we were able to see the pictures right away on his computer. We went through about forty shots to narrow it down to the fourteen of which we wanted proofs. We left the studio very happy with the experience, and we think Louie enjoyed it also. About three weeks later, the proofs came in the mail. If we thought choosing the fourteen proofs was hard, choosing the one to have a portrait made with was even harder! We narrowed it down to three, and then chose the winning photo. It is amazing that we got so many good photos, because during the shoot, it didn’t seem like any of the shots would turn out well. It just proves that if you’re patient and have a good photographer, you can get great photos of a wiggly bunny!

There are a few things to remember when choosing a photographer for your rabbit:

• Make sure he is comfortable with a rabbit. Most pet photographers only photograph cats and dogs. Our photographer had never done a rabbit before, but was willing to give it a try.
• Use a pets-only photographer. If you use a people photographer who is just doing rabbits for Easter, you could end up with not-so-great results. Pets, unlike people, need rest breaks, and can only handle about an hour of photos. You may be able to find a good people/pet photographer. If you use a people/pets photographer, be sure to interview the photographer before taking your rabbit.
• Make sure he is gentle with animals. Don’t shove your rabbit into position. Let the rabbit explore and look around. The photos will turn out better if the rabbit is in a natural pose.

Dos and Don’ts of pet photography:

• Do bring a favorite toy, blanket or other familiar object from home. We brought Louie’s favorite carpet square, and let her take rest breaks on it.
• Do bring treats, such as fruit or veggies. These also work well to get the rabbit to pose in a certain way.
• Do bring your rabbit in a carrier. Your rabbit will likely be very tired after an hour or so of posing, so bring a place for her to rest on the way home.
• Do bring a friend or relative. It works better to have two people in addition to the photographer at the session. That way, you can each help get the rabbit’s attention towards the camera.
• Don’t make the rabbit work the whole time. If you are there for an hour, your rabbit should have at least three-four 5-minute breaks.
• Don’t get angry if the rabbit won’t pose the way you want. It won’t make the bunny get comfortable any faster.
• Don’t let your rabbit chew through any cords, drop cloths, etc. You’d be surprised what your rabbit can get into when your back is turned looking at pictures. Getting the portrait is expensive enough; you don’t need to be paying for any damaged equipment. We put Louie in the carrier when we couldn’t keep a watchful eye on her.
• Do spread the word about the photographer if you’ve had a good experience!

Here are some pet photographer’s names and websites:

(Illinois) Mark Pastor Pet Photography http://www.markpastorphotography.com
(Connecticut) Farmland Photography http://www.farmlandphotography.com
(Michigan) All Pet Photography http://www.allpetphotography.com
(New York) Animal Images Photography http://www.animalimages.com
(New York) Forte Photography http://fortephotographystudio.com/petphotos/
To find more pet photographers, do a search for ‘pet photographer’ with your state at the end on a search engine, such as google.com or altavista.com.

We now have a portrait of Louie that will last long after she’s gone. We chose a photo of her in one of her favorite positions as the 11x17” portrait. We had a wonderful experience with Mark Pastor, and plan on having the rest of our rabbit’s portraits done with him. Good luck in finding a wonderful pet photographer in your area! Just make sure your bunny doesn’t get too much of an attitude after being treated like a supermodel for a day!

Photo by Mark Pastor

Copyright 2002 Mallory Mohring