Making memories to last a lifetime….

If you are a photographer that wishes to participate in discussions concerning pet photography, and have your feedback used in articles on St. Louis Pet Photography, click here for details.

Your feedback and work will be referenced in articles from time to time, and links within the articles will direct traffic to your business. What a wonderful way to be heard and advertise your business at the same time, and cost you nothing!    (read more)

This poll is an attempt to gather information about  whether pet owners (or not)  have any type of portraits of their pets. Please take just a couple of minutes to vote in the poll.

Information gathered will be used in a future articles.

Please feel free to forward or share this page with your contacts as I am looking for a response from people in all walks of life, pet owner or not.  (ie email, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, or any number of social networking sites.) The more poll particpants the better.       

Click here to access the poll

Thanks in advance for your participation.

© Gila Todd

If you check Webster’s online dictionary it tells you a portrait is simply a drawing, carving, painting, or photograph of something. It’s not specific at all about how formal or traditional a portrait might be.

Over the years many photographers have stuck to the traditional side of the fence.  A typical portrait comes from a controlled environment with a subject that will appear well posed and somewhat formal. After all we want to preserve the best possible image right? As reliable as traditional photography is, there are many other styles available and might be more suitable for your pet.     (read more)

© Gila Todd

Digital image processing is a great revelation for the field of photography as a whole, and has certainly opened up  pet photography by leaps and bounds. No longer are portraits of any kind, including pets, limited to studio environments where conditions can be easily controlled. 

Today, portrait photographers and amateurs alike are at liberty to move away from the traditional studio setting, digital camera in hand. Photographers now have so many more options. They can venture out into countless alternate locations more suitable for their subjects, especially pets. The digital age has made it possible tocatch a subject’s portrait in an atmosphere more suitable for them.   (read more)

Short session with Frankie today made for some wonderful images.
Such a sweet pup and eager to please.

I look forward to seeing Frankie again. He is such an attentive model.

~G

Most photographers offered pet photography as a service, but just a handful offer pet photography exclusively. A little research took this author to “Who’s a Good Dog Photography”, owned and operated by Maureen Schmutzler. Maureen specializes in photographing pets only, specifically dog and cats, and services the St. Louis area. 

© Gila Todd

A recent online search for St. Louis Photographers produced hundreds and hundreds of results. If someone were to try to wade through them all, it would take hours if not days to check each site.Narrowing the search to St. Louis Pet Photographer reduced the choices considerably.

Search results show that relatively few St Louis photographers are taking a serious look at the reported 40 billion dollar a year industry of pet photography. Yes, 40 billion.

(read more)

It takes a certain sort of person to photograph pets, and do it well. You can find photographers most anywhere who will do a good enough job to put a print on your wall. But only a person with a genuine love of animals will produce a portrait worth displaying for a lifetime……(read more)

© Gila Todd

Every photographer has a few tricks up their sleeve when trying to gain and maintain the attention of their models.

When photographing children you will see the photographer use toys that are cute, funny, and some that make noise. There is almost always a squeaker in the box somewhere. These items work wonderfully to draw out the smiles and laughter that makes so many child portraits priceless keepsakes. The sheer fun in it brings a child’s personality to the surface for capture.

This method works well when photographing animals as well…..

(click here to read more)

 In order to photograph pets and get good results one must find an environment each animal is comfortable in. While some pets can be photographed in studio, many will require that the photographer get out and adapt to the animals preference. After all, what sort of portrait will it make to prop a skittish animal on a posing table three feet off the floor? FeFe the prize winning Poodle may pose nicely on your table but JoJo the Bull Mastiff will likely be nervous with his feet that far from the floor…(click to read more)

Memphis waits patiently for instruction ©Gila Todd

 Getting to know your subject is a key element in portrait photography. It is of utmost importance with pets.

With a human client you can question their likes and dislikes and find out a bit about what makes them click, and do so in a relatively short amount of time. A brief conversation with a few key questions is all it takes to determine what will be the best environment or setting to photograph your subject in or what look you are going for.…(read more)

Got a neat little gig going writing articles as the St Louis Pet PhotographyExaminer on  Examiner.com. I will be publishing articles 3-5 times a week.

Just click the link above to check out some of my articles. If you would like to be notified each time I publish a new article, just click the subscribe button to and enter you email address. Each time I publish, you will receive an email notification with a link.

I hope you will enjoy reading the articles as much as I am enjoying writing them. Feel free to leave comments at the bottom of each article.

If you have suggestions for article topics, comments in general, or even questions, please drop me a line at g@gilasplace.com

If you are a photographer that wishes to participate in discussions concerning pet photography, and have your feedback used in articles on St. Louis Pet Photography, click here to fill out  the attached survey

Your feedback and work will be referenced in articles from time to time, and links within the articles will direct traffic to your business. What a wonderful way to be heard and advertise your business at the same time, and cost you nothing!

I am looking for photographers from the St. Louis or surrounding areas first and foremost, but photographers from anywhere are welcome to take the survery.

If you are looking for a way to share your knowledge and put your business out into the media,  take this survey today! You have nothing to lose and so much to gain.

After you have completed the attached survey (part 1), you will be mailed a password to complete a second survey that will collect a deeper insite into your feeling on pet photography, experience, and aspirations.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Gila Todd St. Louis Pet Photography Examiner

Garrett and I were on a mission. Goal: To make it to the River Overlook at Trail of Tears, before nightfall.

The twisting, curvy roads of the park were all but completely covered in leaves which made the roadway disappear in many areas.

Although in a hurry to make it to the overlook, we stopped at the first scenic stop on the way up. It was breathtaking even after the several days of rain we had just gotten. We made it to the overlook and were able to get a few choice shots before the last rays of sunlight slipped below the trees.

On our return home we witnesses one of the most amazingly odd sunsets I have ever seen. It looked like two thin lines in the sky, the sun broke through them, and beamed out like a nuclear explosion. The photo is nice but doesn’t do sunset itself justice.

Enjoy!

~G

Spent a nice afternoon with my son capturing some of the beautiful fall colors before the wind and rain blows it all away.

Anthony and I traveled to Cape and spent a little time on the river getting some shots of the boats nearby, scenes from the waterfront, and a few shots of Water Street. I love the oldest part of Cape. You can just feel the history as you walk through the streets amongst the oldest of buildings.

After leaving the river from we traveled home by way of highway 177. I just knew the colors would be beautiful along the way. I was not disappointed! As always the Missouri landscape has outdone itself providing a spectacular show of color this fall.

I hope that I can make it out to Trail of Tears before all the color has fallen off the trees for this season.

Enjoy!

~G

Dr. Adam Swafford and Mylee

The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri

2010 Mutts and Muscle Calendar is 

 NOW ON SALE!

Order yours here today.

http://www.semopets.org/Shop.html

 Calendars  available now at the following locations.

Many new things going on this fall with Gila’s Place.  Including the creation of this blog.

One of our biggest projects is consolidating our image hosting. We currently use three different hosting sites to house all our images. Recently I decided to narrow it down to just one for my choice hosting and will be moving everything over in the coming months. This is going to be a chore but well worth it. This move will enable us to keep costs down and put all our ducks in a row so to speak.

During this transition, the main site may experience broken links, lost images, and various other quirks. If you notice anything out of the ordinary before I have found and fixed the problem, I would appreciate it if you would email me at g@gilasplace.com to report the problem.

Thanks in advance for any problems you may experience. Please feel free to comment on the blog entries to let us know how you are enjoying our new features.

G