Must ask pre-shoot questions for successful pet photoshoots
If you’ve just switched to pet photography from primarily photographing people, you might have realised that a lot of your pre-shoot questions- either for discovery calls or pre-shoot questionnaires- aren’t really appropriate!
Or perhaps you’ve been doing this for a while but every now and again you have quite a challenging shoot and you find yourself thinking “if only I was prepared for that”.
Well, today I’m here to share with you my favourite questions to ask pet parents to ensure your shoots run smoothly!
I personally prefer to use a questionnaire to obtain this information. I like being able to refer back to it and have everything I need in one place.
On top of asking for contact details, the style of their home and the rooms in which they’d most enjoy seeing their artwork displayed each day, I ask the following questions:
What is the most important image to be captured during your photoshoot?
Location featured
Classic Portrait
Your Relationship
In-Between Moments & Play
Just the dog
Family moments with the dog too
Without pets too
I use Jotform (and have also used Survey Monkey) for my pre-shoot questionnaires. Both of these platforms allow multi-choice image answers which is perfect because instead of simply listing those types of shots, I have photo examples and the client just clicks on the photos that resonate most with them.
What are you and your dog doing in your happiest moments?
Cuddling
Being Silly
Coffee Dates
Hiking/Outdoors Activities
Other, please elaborate
This question is also a multiple-choice image answer. You’ll want to amend these to suit your area, for example if you live near water you might like to add “beach walks” or “swimming in the lake”. What I love about this question is it not only ensures the location you’ve booked actually suits the client, but it also gives you great insight into their personality so even if you are a studio based photographer- still ask this question! Maybe it will give you ideas!
Please let us know which of these apply to your dog/s*
Sit on command
Stay up to 1m from you
Solid Stay from over 2m
Solid Recall (can be off-lead)
Recall in training (off-lead in secure environment only)
My dog is in training
Over excited by other dogs
Shows aggression toward other dogs
Is fearful of other dogs
Over-excited by new people
Shows aggression toward new people
Is fearful of new people
Other fears (wheelie bins, trucks, loud noises etc)
I feel like people are more honest when they just need to click a button and for these questions, honesty is important.
Note that I have been quite specific with these questions. Early on I simply asked “aggressive”, but many dogs are only aggressive toward other dogs, or only toward humans. If it’s toward other dogs, I’ll choose a quiet location. If it’s toward people, I know I need to stay my distance from this dog (at least initially) and certainly will use a 70-200.
Be sure to use plain language here, and give multiple options (eg. both fear and aggressive). Most pet parents know less about dogs than us, so they may think their dog is simply aggressive but can’t see that it’s fear-based aggression.
Please tell me what you DON'T want during your photoshoot!
This is a great open-ended question and I’ve had clients thank me for asking this. You can expect responses like “I don’t like traditional photos”, “I don’t want my dog to be forced to sit”, “I don’t want to be in the photos” and “I don’t want full-body photos of myself”.
The questions you ask and the responses shared can not only help you feel prepared for the shoot and sales but also give your clients confidence that they have booked a true professional who knows and cares about pets. Small changes to your process like adding in a pre-shoot questionnaire can truly have a massive impact on your business. You’ll see that this extra step increases the level of service and personalisation your clients feel- potentially leading to more referrals. Armed with this information you’ll easily be able to suggest appropriate locations and explain to your client why the local dog park isn’t a suitable option for their dog. And you’ll feel organised with all the information gathered in one place to review immediately before the photoshoot.
What great questions have you found help you prefer for your photoshoot?
If you feel you could be better prepared for your photoshoots, and that you could prepare your clients better not just for the shoot, but for spending big too.. We have something for you!
‘The Ultimate Pet-Parent Communication Pack’ includes:
Swipe copy for pet-specific website FAQs
Canva template for our Pet photoshoot guide
Plug and play Pre-shoot Questionnaire template
Pet photoshoot confirmation email template with what to wear, what to bring and more!
Pet photoshoot reminder email template
Pet photoshoot reminder text swipe file
There’s no need to waste time stressing about how to perfectly word all of this for your clients. That’s what this pack is for!
Author
Kirstie McConnell |
Founder
The Pet Photographers Club
When Kirstie launched her pet photography business in Australia in 2012, the genre was barely a thing. She spent the next years at the forefront of this niche, marketing not just her own business, but the concept of pet photography. Each year she photographed around 100 dogs, cats and horses per year to create wall art and albums for pet-parents.
Now based in Italy, she continues to offer pet photography to her clients back in Australia on return trips, but otherwise spends her energy helping other pet photographers build a business which will allow them to follow their dreams.
Internationally recognized as a leader in the industry, she hosts the podcast, workshops, courses and business events for The Pet Photographers Club which she co-founded.
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