Remember when taking the photo to try and imagine it as the final portrait on your wall. For animals it's best not to have the subject looking straight at the camera but try to get them turning slightly. Always have the sun behind you as this will show up the subjects features making a much clearer photo. And please try to have the subject as close up as possible, it’s very hard to create a portrait of a subject that is a long distance away with very blurred features and I want to create the best painting possible for you.

Good quality photographs are best. I require one photograph that you wish to have the portrait of and then several extra photographs as reference. The colour match may not be best on the photograph you want used for the portrait so please include a photo that represents the best colour match. Any notes that you can include for me concerning colour, tack, collars etc to be included/not included are very much appreciated.

I can work from digital images but please be aware that printers do not produce the best colour. Please provide digital images as high resolution and preferably on CD. I will also require one ‘normal’ photo for the colour reference. Also, the bigger the photos, the better!

Dogs

Some dogs will do anything for a titbit and if this is the case, have someone in front of your dog holding the treat to keep the dog’s attention long enough for a good shot. Not too long though that they lose interest! However, if you have a dog that loves nothing more than wandering off, it might be wise to put a lead on them and tie them to something like a pole so that they have to stay still. Also, if taking photos of several dogs, try to keep them separate during the photography session so they don’t wind each other up. And please take the photo from their head height and not looking down on them! If it’s a small dog, it might be best to have them sat on a chair or something to get the right view.

Horses

Horses love nothing more than being nosey when a camera is pointed at them so make sure you have someone to hold the horse. If unable to have someone hold the horse, try to tie them up. Try not to have them with their heads over stable doors as the lighting often dulls their features. Horses also suffer from “giraffe neck” where they stretch towards the camera so the best photo is one where they are turning their head towards the camera.

Cats

Cats are the hardest to photograph! Unless you have an incredibly well trained cat that actually understands sit, they tend not to listen to a word you say! With my own cats, photographs that work best are when they are staring intently out of a window or when they’ve just woken up. Other than that, they’ll rub up against the camera or get bored and walk away!

People

Especially children, all I will say is the more fun the photo the better. Good close up photos so I can see all the skin tones and the eyes clearly. If the child is young and doesn’t like sitting still for photos, let them play but zoom in for a close up shot whilst they’re having fun. And hopefully most adults are well behaved enough to understand simple instructions asked of them!