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Author Archives: johnbshep

04 Mar 2018
pet product photography of leash on white background

DogVenture Gear | Pet Product People

Today we are joined by Jennifer Morrison, the founder and owner of DogVenture Gear — a Baltimore-based company that designs handmade water resistant dog collars, convertible leads, and accessories, like twisted flannel scarves and collar slips, for adventure minded dog lovers

03 Feb 2018

How Much Do Dog Walkers Make?

One of the perceived benefits of being a dog walker is that it provides flexible hours and that you can make money by only walking for a few hours a day — which is true, to an extent. But it is important to keep in mind that most dog walkers that clear $30,000 or more a year typically work a packed schedule and can walk as much as a dozen miles or more per day.

31 Jan 2018
Portrait of a bully breed dog wearing an Elizabethan style ruff colla

Breaking Through Creative Blocks: Lessons learned from Paper Hats

Written by J.B. Shepard, a professional pet photographer and founder of the Puptrait Studio. Creative Block Definition Creative Block (noun): A term loosely based on the concept of “Writer’s block”. A condition, in which an artist experiences a creative slowdown or performance crisis. Often perpetuated by the feeling or sense that progress and inspiration are somehow impeded by an unseen or unknown barrier. Creative blocks are disruptive by definition and crippling in nature. And unfortunately, they’re also an all too common […]

29 Nov 2017
scottish terrier wearing Santa hat

2017 Holiday Delivery Deadline for Personal Pet Portraits

December is here and like every year that means we are beginning our Holiday gift giving rush. As a Puptrait is a custom made-to-order gift they do take a bit of time to produce. When viewing the dates below please keep in mind that these are the cutoff dates for print orders and not for pet portrait sessions. Our standard personal dog portrait timeline assumes 4 business days from session end to proofing. Commissions requiring shorter turnaround times will incur a […]

10 Nov 2017

Studio Hours Are Back!

Our dog-friendly Baltimore studio location is back up and ready to roll. Our studio is available for commercial pet product photography assignments and private dog portrait sessions. To view photographer and studio availability for private dog portrait sessions, please visit our appointment calendar and booking widget. For commercial shoots, please email your product specifications and contact info to studio@puptrait.com for a custom quote.

06 Nov 2017
Photo of Stray Dogs Playing in Valparaiso

Photos of Street Dogs Playing Together With A Plastic Dish

We had a chance to visit Valparaíso, Chile. For those unfamiliar Valparaíso, it’s an exceptionally vibrant port side city in Central Chile, roughly an hour and half drive from Santiago. If you’re into street art, Valparaíso is an absolutely must see destination, as much, if not most of Valparaíso is covered in colorful murals and stunning graffiti. Between their plethora of murals, many art galleries and museums, Valparaíso can be an amazing destination for any art fan to visit. And, […]

21 Oct 2017

Top 10 Dog Photos of 2017

As 2017 draws to a close we though it might be fun to revisit some of our favorites professionally captured dog photos and puppy portraits of the year. This year we saw a lot of compositing and high concept work coming out of the Puptrait Studio. Part of which can be chalked up to our team simply getting better in post and working more regularly in Photoshop, but a good number of these portrait concepts were driven by client requests, […]

21 Oct 2017

Top 10 Best Dog Breeds to Photograph

We get asked constantly what our favorite breed is to photograph. In some ways, I hate answering this question for the simple fact that all dog’s have unique personalities and mannerisms, which makes every session – regardless of their breed – a blast and a challenge. We love photographing dogs, all dogs, regardless of their breed. That all said, we have to admit that some breeds, for a multitude of reasons, do tend to ham it up more than others. […]

22 Sep 2017

Introducing the Paper Hats Collection

We have had a ton of requests to do this, so we figured – why not? It’s for charity, right? So, here goes! The entire Paper Hats collection is now available as a HEAVILY discounted set. The set includes one 8″ x 8″ metallic photo paper print of each image from Paper Hats and totals 8 prints in all. It arrives in a high quality ribbon wrapped keepsake box – perfect for protecting your art prints from dust, folds, wrinkles […]

08 Sep 2017
A friendly little black pug. He is a smiley pup and a great example of one of our favorite small breeds.

Small Breed Problems: We Are Dogs Too

Small dog breeds have been around for quite some time and we can’t really blame people for loving them so much. Small dogs come in a variety of different sizes and don’t have a specific weight category to classify them otherwise, but they are not that difficult to spot. Odds are if you’ve been on Instagram in recent years, you probably already like and follow famous smaller dogs. These dogs can weigh as little as 2 pounds and yes, that […]